Rapunzel's Prince
by trichloroethane
Summary: Everyone knows the story of Rapunzel. But what about her prince? AU, shonen-ai.
1. Chapter 1

**Rapunzel's Prince:**

Disclaimer: I do not own DN Angel.

Warnings: Fluff, AU, angst, shounen-ai

A/N: Surprise surprise, I'm back to square one.

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Everyone knows the story of Rapunzel, and how she came to be locked in the tower. Everyone knows about her prince, who came to rescue her, but sacrificed his eyesight instead and lost her for years. Everyone remembers how they were brought back together again by fate, and how they lived happily ever after. But who knows the prince's story? This tells the story of Prince Charming, and how he grew up to become the man who would eventually sacrifice everything for his Rapunzel.

Once upon a time, as all stories begin, there was the Hiwatari Kingdom. The king and queen of this land were wise and just, and ruled their people with a strict but fair hand. The country prospered, and because of its numerous contracts with other lands, the Hiwatari Kingdom was respected by many. However, the king and queen themselves were an unhappy couple.

The king and queen loved each other very much; anyone could tell just from looking at them. However, they were disappointed by the fact that although they had been married for so many years, they still had not had a child. The king knew that his time was drawing to a close; every morning, when he woke up, he could almost hear his joints creaking and before a storm, he often found himself unable to move his fingers for the pains that shot up them. His court physician applied poultices and healing potions that smelled most vile to his hands every morning and night, but all to no avail. The king had long accepted the possibility of his dying without a direct successor to the throne, and had thus made plans accordingly, even going so far as to name a distant cousin as the heir to the throne. However, the queen had not, could not, would not.

She too enlisted the help of physicians, healers, even hedgewitches whom the villagers often shunned because of their strange abilities. The queen was determined to bear her husband a son before he aged, and unable to resist his wife's demands, the king too kept trying. Finally, one spring morning, the queen blissfully whispered to her husband that she was with child.

There was great rejoicing throughout the land, for a childless king could easily mean a devastating civil war. There was a great festival to honour the royal couple, and the dancing and celebrations lasted for well over a fortnight. However, the queen soon retreated from the public eye in preparation for her birthing, and life returned to normal. Every day, the queen would sit in her chamber and look out the window, blissfully imagining the day her child would be born. Having always wanted a child of her own, she wondered what he would look like, how he would behave, whether he would take after her or his father.

Months passed, and the queen grew rounder. The king's joy eclipsed all his physical pains; every morning he thanked the gods for blessing him and his wife with a child and prayed that it would be healthy and strong. Finally, in the midst of winter, merely a few days before the winter solstice, the queen went into labour.

It would be a difficult birth, the midwives told him. So the king paced the corridors outside of his wife's birthing chambers, consumed with anxiety and every five minutes sending up a prayer to the goddess of women and children. _Please let them both live,_ he prayed. _Please Goddess, gods, whoever is listening. Please give them both strength, and let them come through._

Inside the room, the queen screamed and arched up, desperately trying to push the child out. But the midwives would not let her; she was not yet ready for that stage. They rubbed oils and ointments on her, trying to ease the pains and prepare her for the hardest part. She sobbed and panted, her hair dishevelled and a wild, desperate look in her eyes as she fought the screams threatening to erupt from her throat every time a wave of pain washed over her. The midwives murmured amongst themselves, but she could hear nothing, see nothing, feel nothing but the searing heat that rippled through her regularly. "Brace, your Highness," a woman urged her, holding her hand, voice never wavering once in spite of the crushing grip the queen had on her fingers. "You will both be well. It is only a little longer now." Finally, she heard the order. "Push!" A midwife ordered her. "Come now, child, _push_!"

It was hard, harder than anything she'd ever had to do before. Pushing with all her strength, she finally felt a cool hand stroke her forehead and she instinctively knew that it was over. She sank onto her sweat-soaked pillows panting heavily, only just strong enough to raise her arms. "Let me see," she whispered. "Let me see."

With a warm smile, the midwife told her, "Congratulations, your Highness. It's a boy." The queen took one look at her son and shrieked in horror, scrambling over to the other side of the bed and cowering away from the child, screaming all the while.

"No!" She screamed hoarsely, eyes fixed on the wailing child. "Take him away! Take him away!" Her shrill cries pierced the air and the midwives, afraid of upsetting her further, hastily took the child away.

They left Satoshi in the care of a wet nurse and placed in the west wing of the castle, where he would not frighten the queen. Whenever she saw him, she would scream and convulse wildly in fits, howling like a woman possessed. It grieved no one more than the king to see the little boy curiously try to grab a lock of his mother's pale hair, only to howl in pain as she brutally slapped his hand away and rushed off, a haunted look on her face. No one could explain the queen's strange reaction to her son, and although the midwife and court physician said that it was perfectly normal for a woman to suffer strange moods after a birth, it was obvious that her condition would not go away.

The king often stopped by the royal nursery, which had also been moved to the west wing of the castle, to see how his son fared. He never dared go inside, afraid of frightening the little boy, but it made him glad to see that the little prince was healthy and growing.

Satoshi, for the most part, was a quiet child. To the delight and relief of all his tutors and nurses, he was easy to handle and much preferred reading to tumbling and playing outside. His tutors were amazed by the way he learned new concepts so quickly and easily, and how he remembered them all even months after they had finished the topic. In short, the boy was destined to become a great king, although his physical tutors would beg to differ.

The first time Satoshi realized that not all parents behaved as he did was at his first memorable birthday party, when he had turned six. His mother, as usual, was not there. He was told to say that she was visiting her parents, who lived in a nearby kingdom, and would not be back until the next week. The nobles all whispered and gave him strange looks, but nevertheless they allowed, no, they encouraged their children to play with him. The favour of the king's son was paramount to securing an important post in court, especially in the future, when he would one day become king.

There was a duke's adopted son there, a small child who had white hair and grey eyes. On his face, there was a blazing red tattoo that streaked down the left side of his face like some bizarre drawing, and he had a deformed left arm. Nevertheless, the little boy was laughing and smiling and talking to all the other children when he wasn't eating (it was amazing how so small a figure could pack away so much food). And every time Allen Walker ran back to his father, the duke would smile at him and ask how he was. Satoshi felt a small pang of jealousy in his heart, and he wondered why his parents did not do the same.

Before seeing Mana and Allen Walker, the prince had never before questioned why his mother rejected him, or why his father kept his distance. After that day, he tried to go to his parents' chambers, only to find the door locked and barred against him. Sometimes he would see his mother sewing in her chair, but as son as she saw him she would ignore him, treating him like a piece of furniture in the room. The only sign that showed she knew he was there was the way she yanked the thread in and out of her embroidery.

Satoshi sometimes tried to talk to his father, but the king would only smile, pat him on his head and tell him to be a good boy distractedly before returning to his wife. These words would have ordinarily made him flush with joy at being acknowledged, but after his birthday party where he saw other children being pampered and love by their parents for the first time, they were no longer enough. Satoshi just wanted an answer to his questions. He didn't want anything else.

"Why won't you come see me?" He shouted after his father's retreating figure. The older man stopped for a moment and then began walking again, as though nothing had happened. Thinking that he hadn't been loud enough, the little blue-haired prince opened his mouth to shout more loudly, but his nurse hastily clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shh, little master," she softly whispered in worry. "It won't do if you disturb the queen."

It was then that the prince realized that his parents didn't care about him. From then on, he avoided them as neatly as they had avoided him, going so far as to ask the servants to set up a dining hall in the west wing for him so that he wouldn't have to eat near his parents. He filled the empty spaces with his old stuffed toys, knowing that it was a girly and childish thing to do but unwilling to admit that so many empty spaces reminded him of how alone he was.

The years passed in this fashion, with the king and queen living in one part of the castle and the prince in the other. Satoshi was now obliged to occasionally visit his parents in order to let them see that he was fit to become the next king to the Hiwatari kingdom, but whilst young men and women of the nobility were presented at court every day, he was left to his own devices, with not so much as a whisper of his being officially announced as the heir to the throne going through the castle. The king was worried about his wife's condition, but he knew of no other way than to keep her happy and thus avoided his son, only asking about him when it was absolutely necessary.

The queen's condition suddenly began to deteriorate in the middle of the fall. Where she had once been perfectly normal save for when she saw Satoshi, she now began to babble to herself in a high-pitched voice and in an unknown language. She often spent hours talking to herself and arguing. Whenever the king tried to gently distract her she would turn on him and burst into hysterical laughter until he left. Her moods became wild and she could often go from enraged to cheerful and sunny within a minute. As time wore on, her appetite deteriorated and she soon became a thin shadow of herself, with haunted eyes and hollow cheeks. The voices in her mind became louder and there were so many of them, bombarding her with information. Sometimes they would all whisper bad things about her, reminding her of her son's presence and suddenly she would want to see him, only to dissolve in tears when he appeared in front of her.

The voices grew louder with time, all of them struggling to make themselves heard at the same time. Sometimes they told her that she was a good wife and that she had fulfilled her duty and then some. Other times, they hissed that she was a witch and that she was no better than the lowest prostitute in the red light district. They had never been loud; she'd always been able to push them to the back of her mind, but after she'd had the child it was as though the door she'd used to shut them away had been shattered. The voices had come in full force and she had been unable to do anything except fight them every day and night. It was all Satoshi's fault!

Her quickly failing mental health was reflected in her physical appearance; where she'd previously still been beautiful and ethereal, she now only appeared thin and waifish. Her high cheekbones and straight nose looked too big for her rapidly hollowing cheeks and her eyes were always tired, giving the impression that she did not sleep often. Her gowns now hung loosely off her frame like large pieces of shapeless cloth. Day by day, she withered away, and no one could do anything about it.

The king himself despaired of ever curing her. A few years earlier, they had tried all manner of remedies but none appeared to work, and a few had even hastened her illness. Finally realizing that they could no longer allow the queen to be seen by the people in her current condition, the king finally gave the order for them to take her to a different part of the castle, one where no one would see her save for the servants that tended to her every need. The queen screamed on her first night in her new chambers by herself, screamed so long and so hard that everyone in the castle came running, but they refused to touch her.

Satoshi, of course, did not know of any of this. He only knew that his mother was very ill, and that he had to stay away from her. Of course, this never worried him; he had learned to think of his mother as merely the woman who had brought him to life, and not anything else. He remembered the look on her face when he'd entered her rooms for the first time, and he'd heard the story of how she had immediately rejected him after seeing what he looked like. He didn't care, he told himself.

Then one night, in the dead of winter, the queen managed to escape from her rooms. She wandered through the castle wrapped in only a thin cloak over her nightdress and shift, laughing and talking as though she were at a party. In her mind, she saw shining candles, glittering chandeliers encrusted with crystals the size of her thumbnail and heard music playing throughout. People laughed and talked around her and she smiled, approaching her old friend the Duchess of Aragon. They talked for a while, but the queen soon grew restless. She smiled and politely excused herself from the conversation, walking around the hall and enjoying the atmosphere.

Feeling the need for a fresh breath of air, she made her way over to the door that would lead her to the balcony and opened it, slipping out into the cool night air. To her surprise, she found herself in a dark room. Only able to make out the faint shapes of a bed and a small desk, she looked around in bewilderment, feeling a little chilly as the night wind suddenly blew a gust of cold air in. She shivered and looked down, staring as her silks and beautiful jewelry vanished, replaced instead by a thin shift and nightdress. Then she looked around and realized that she had been sleepwalking and dreaming. Frightened, she turned to go, only to freeze at the sound of a tired voice coming from the bed.

"Who is it?"

Fear swirled around her mind as the darkness suddenly became oppressive and the shadows loomed up threateningly. She took a step backwards and felt around blindly, looking for something, anything she could use to defend herself. Her hand felt something long and solid, and she hastily grabbed it. She wobbled precariously, weakened by the lack of food, but the fear strengthened her and she slowly approached the source of the noise, weapon held in front of her. There was a shift and suddenly a flame flickered in the darkness, moving over to a candle and illuminating the whole room. The queen caught a glimpse of blue hair and shrieked, unable to stop herself from crashing clumsily towards it. A claw shot out and grabbed her wrist, and she wailed loudly. The _thing_ started trying to talk, but she knew that she couldn't. It would talk, and then she would fall under its spell, and she would die. She couldn't, wouldn't, mustn't let it talk any more.

The creature surged upwards and she grappled with it blindly, scratching and flailing with her free hand and trying to get her other hand free. "No!" She shrieked like a demon possessed. "No, no, no!"

The thing staggered backwards as she raked blindly across what was likely its face and she sobbed, tears blocking her already impaired vision. Then it let go, and she slipped forwards, crashing headlong into a hard corner. She felt something hot trickle down the side of her face, and closed her eyes as a deep, deep darkness overwhelmed her.

Satoshi reeled backwards from the scratches in his face; sleep-addled and prone to bruising more easily than most, he let go of the thin wrist in his grasp and leaned heavily against the solid bulk of the wardrobe. He heard an almighty crash and squinted in the flickering light, catching a glimpse of a white nightdress fluttering and then the thud of a limp body on the floor. He rushed forward, ignoring the dizziness that pulsed in his head and knelt beside the body, carefully turning it over and scrambled back in horror at the gash in the queen's forehead. Her eyes were wide open and her mouth was slack, and he knew instantly with all the knowledge of ten years that she was dead.

He sat there, shivering in fright and shock, staring at the ghastly scene illuminated by the light of the moon and the flickering candlelight for a while, unable to think of anything but the fact that his mother was dead.

They found the boy shivering in his little room at dawn, when they came to wake him up and help him dress. The chambermaid cried aloud in shock and fainted, and had to be carried out by his tutor. His manservant helped him to dress as usual, but Satoshi did not miss the shaking in the man's hands or the awkward silence that pervaded the room he'd been hustled into. He turned to the older man. "Did I do it?" He asked simply, ice-blue eyes boring into the servant's brown ones. "Was it my fault?" The man could not answer, shocked that the child would even think so, but his silence was taken as hesitation and the blue-haired child nodded decisively, ingraining the memory into his head so that he would never forget that it was his fault that his mother had died. "It was my fault," he told his servant as he pushed his arms into the sleeves of his undershirt and through the holes in the tunic. "I was responsible for the queen's death." Not daring to say anything else, the servant nodded quietly in agreement.

Satoshi did not shed a single tear as they quietly lowered his mother's coffin into the ground and hastily shovelled damp earth over it. As though to mock him, the sun shone more brightly than usual and the birds sang brightly, as though there was something to celebrate.

After the queen's death, the king became a former shadow of himself. He was unable to sleep and appeared often in court with large, violently purple circles under his eyes. His shoulders sagged and his cheeks grew hollow. When he had once filled his clothes well, they now hung off his diminished frame like loose pieces of ill-fitting peasant cloth. It was not just his appearance that had changed; it was also his attitude towards life. He was dull and listless long after the funeral, and even at balls concealed himself for a long time, only appearing after a few hours and reeking of the strong wine that younger lords loved to imbibe during drinking contests. He no longer took a personal interest in affairs; he now left them all to his counsellors, who took advantage of his absence to gather power and plot to oust the prince. After all, they reasoned, Satoshi would not be of age yet and the king's condition was sure to kill him before the year was out. So the country fell into disarray. Villages became shells devoid of life; whole towns and cities starved from the lack of food making its way in through the gates. The people muttered amongst themselves; perhaps the Hiwatari reign was coming to an end. The king did nothing, and neither did the prince. Soon the counsellors found themselves jockeying for larger areas of land, and the country descended into a state of chaos. No one dared openly attack the royal castle, but it was clear that the rebels were gaining strength, funded by lords on the High Counsel, and it would not be long before the country split apart. The only thing holding it together was the thought that the king was still alive; no one spared a thought for the next heir to the throne.

The country was in chaos. After having seized control over the land by tricking the grief-stricken king into signing a law that gave them complete control over the kingdom, the ten counsellors had turned on each other. Each sent bands of mercenaries and armies against the other, battling for ownership of valuable lands. The people suffered; unable to farm or flee due to the vast numbers of soldiers marching through the land and warring, they bitterly cursed their king and prince, both of whom remained silent and invisible to the rest of the lands.

The king and his son were moved to a smaller, secret castle near the border of the desert by a small group of loyal soldiers who had taken it upon themselves to protect the royal family for as long as it took. Many still hoped for a peaceful return to the days of old, but the older ones knew that it would not happen. Prince Satoshi showed no interest in affairs of state and refused to participate in any war councils, calling them a waste of time and utterly useless. Yet the royal guards persisted, thinking of new plans and methods to combat the civil conflict that had toppled the Hiwatari clan in all but name.

It was the anniversary of the queen's death. As was customary, the king had locked himself in his chambers once more, wailing and mourning the loss of his beloved wife. Through the heavy wooden door, his few remaining servants could hear his curses at the gods and his son for taking the queen away, for depriving him of the one thing that had given him nothing but joy. No one mentioned any of these things to Satoshi, but the prince knew. He always did.

Wandering through the corridors of the castle, Satoshi closed his eyes and tried to remember his life in Castle Hiwatari, before the rebellions and the civil war. His country was being torn apart, but he felt no desire to prevent it from doing so. _Let them rot,_ he thought coldly. He wanted nothing to do with a country that tore at itself day after day.

He was woken early one morning, when it was still dark out, and hastily given clothes to wear. "Your Highness," someone whispered in his ear urgently. "Please hurry. You must leave. They are storming the castle looking for you." The angry shouts reached his ears but he was tired, so tired. He didn't want to move…

He was on a galloping horse with a man guiding it. From the way his skin prickled, he guessed that he was wearing peasant's rough clothes but his mind was too sluggish to figure out why. He slowly began to wake up as they continued through the forest and was soon able to sit up on his own. The man in front of him grunted in acknowledgment of his greeting, but they were completely silent. The prince knew that he was in some sort of danger, but he didn't know exactly what. All he knew was that he was here, in the forest with one of the more loyal gamekeepers and he was leaving the castle. "What's happening?" His voice was harsh from sleep and lack of water. "What's going on? What are we running from?"

There was impatience and fear in the man's voice. "Your Highness, Lord Kimihiro has stormed the castle with his troops. They demand your blood, and so does he. Your people have turned against you; you can no longer show your face in this kingdom. We will ride to the border where your royal cousins live, and you can stay with them. We are fortunate; we have a head start and can easily find shelter before they finally catch up with us."

"What about my father?"

There was a slight pause and then, "Your father is dead. He was killed by the villagers just outside the castle." The curt reply silenced the prince and he slowly nodded.

"I see."

They travelled by night, often finding a hiding place in which to shelter during the day. It was three days before Satoshi finally decided to break the silence in which they had been living since the night he'd escaped from the little castle near the borderlands. "How far is it to the border?" He asked bluntly.

The gamekeeper looked at him and shrugged. "About another two days' hard ride, provided that we have safe passage and fair weather." They continued to ride in silence until finally the older reined the horse in and jumped off the creature. Satoshi waited quietly for the other to help him, but to his surprise and annoyance, the gamekeeper ignored him, choosing to reach up for the bag of food instead.

"Aren't you going to help me off the horse?" The prince demanded. The other did not even glance up.

"Why? Are you a lady?" Feeling his cheeks flush with shame, the boy slipped off quietly and staggered as he landed on a soft part of mud and grass, sinking into the ground. To his dismay, the gamekeeper did not even turn around or ask him how he was, crouching on the ground and fiddling with some twigs and a tinderbox.

He watched the man struggle for a while, clearly frustrated with the lack of dry wood since it had been raining the night before, and slowly sat back. "I'm hungry," he said quietly. The gamekeeper glanced at him and rolled his eyes.

"There's bread and cheese in the pack," the man grunted as he shifted position to try and light another spot of tinder and wood. "Don't eat all of it at once," he growled as an afterthought. The prince slowly nodded and wolfed the cold food down, making sure to put aside a small portion for the older man.

It was tensely silent after he'd stopped chewing and swallowed the last mouthful of meat. "What's your name?" Just at that moment, the twigs burst into flame and the man turned around, dark eyes haggard but still fierce and wary. Satoshi gulped and wondered whether he had incurred the other's wrath in some way; it seemed as though when he left the castle, he had also left his authority as Crown Prince to the Hiwatari kingdom behind.

"Aquila."

"Eagle?" The gamekeeper sighed and looked up wearily, the flames shadowing his sharp features.

"Yes." Satoshi scowled and ignored the man for the rest of the evening, even though he knew that this man was likely now the only person who could and would see him to the borderlands and bring him to safety with his royal cousins. Nevertheless, one question still niggled at the back of his mind. "What will you do?"

Aquila stared at him for a moment longer before looking down. "I will find work in the kingdom somewhere." He gave the young prince a wry twist of his lips. "It will not be near the castle; I have had enough of that." Satoshi stared and slowly nodded, accepting that his rescuer would likely spend the rest of his days on a small farm in the middle of Khael, the desert kingdom, keeping silent about his role in spiriting the Hiwatari heir away during the civil war.

"Don't you want a reward?" He blurted out.

The gamekeeper looked angry. "No," he spat venomously. Satoshi was taken aback by this vehement denial and held his silence, sensing that the older man needed to explain himself. "And besides, what would you give me anyway?" He laughed harshly. "A piece of torn up land that might have once been fertile had your lords not attempted to seize it?" The words stung, but they brought home the gravity of his situation. He was now no longer Prince Satoshi, heir to the Hiwatari kingdom; he was little more than a penniless orphan now. He had no home, no money and nothing save for the clothes on his back.

That was the last conversation he had with Aquila for the next day and a half. The gamekeeper was not overly given to frivolous talking, and Satoshi had never had the patience for small talk either, and thus they continued through the forest, heading towards the border between Khael and the Greenwoods. Strangely enough, Satoshi found himself taking comfort in splitting the chores with the older man; instead of sitting still, he was put to chopping wood and gathering food; the hunting was of course left to Aquila. The menial tasks which would have once made him wrinkle his nose in distaste became his refuge, a way of keeping the civil war that had stripped him of power and his titles at bay.

Satoshi was keeping watch on their second night when his safety was once again threatened. The moon was obscured by threatening thunderclouds which, according to the gamekeeper, would cover the land in rain starting from tomorrow onwards. Within the sounds of the forest, he thought he heard a horse whicker softly and the clink of metal. He leapt to his feet and looked around, holding a thick wooden staff which Aquila had given him for protection should he ever find himself alone. There was silence once more, and the prince settled down again.

Then he heard it; the distinct hiss that metal made when it was being drawn out of a sheath. With a soft curse under his breath; speed and silence were of the essence now; he crept over to the bundle of blankets that was his companion for the longest journey of his life and shook it awake, placing a hand over Aquila's mouth to muffle any sounds he might make.

The gamekeeper instantly woke up, taking in the sight of the prince's wide eyes and the whispers of armed men. In a flash he had grabbed the reins of their horse and hauled the stunned youth on behind him, galloping off and kicking the horse as hard as he could. Shouts and cries followed them as the soldiers and rebels realised that there was someone in the forest.

"We can't ride like this forever," Satoshi panted as he clung tightly onto the older man.

The gamekeeper growled. "We have no other choice!" He forced the horse onward, frequently whipping it with the reins and digging the spurs on his boots into its flanks, forcing then onward. They could still hear the sounds of men pursuing them; horses neighed and stomped whilst the rebels howled and shouted, determined to catch their quarry before dawn.

The prince squeezed his eyes shut and desperately tried to empty his mind of fear and all the other emotions that clouded it. Emotions took your rationality away; that was why they were a king's greatest weakness at times. Instead of vanishing, however, they crowded in further, clamouring like so many spoiled children demanding candy. _Please let us be safe,_ he found himself praying, even though he knew that there was no one to listen. _Please don't let them catch us._ The strange thing was, he had not been this frightened when they had woken him the first time and given him to Aquila to bring to Khael. He certainly did not remember being afraid when he was told that his father was dead, and that he was the only one left in the kingdom who bore the name of Hiwatari.

They rode hard and fast, and finally their pursuers gave up and retreated. Aquila breathed out a sigh of relief and slumped forward on the horse, and it was only then that Satoshi realised how tired the man was; he was breathing heavily and his short was soaked through with sweat, likely from the anxiety and the exhaustion of taking care of both himself and the prince. The blue-haired boy felt ashamed; whilst the gamekeeper had been working, he had been merely shivering in fear. _Small wonder our country fell; it was run by a coward and a fool,_ he thought, burning with shame.

"We'll rest now," he declared. Those dark eyes stared at him as though he were a fool and the thin lips twisted in what was likely scorn.

"Have you hit your head, boy?" The gamekeeper growled. "We must keep riding! We cannot merely stop for exhaustion! We have no other choice!"

"You're burning up!" Satoshi retorted angrily, surprised at his own boldness. "Your condition will only slow us further if you continue like this; mistakes are made when people are tired and I have no intention of being caught because of your physical condition!"

The two glared at each other, neither willing to back down. Satoshi felt a small curl of embarrassment make itself known in his stomach, but fought the urge to look away, unwilling to even appear as though he doubted his own words. Finally the gamekeeper growled something that sounded remarkably like, "Damn brat," and settled down onto a small patch of grass beneath a large tree, blending in quickly with the shadows and becoming little more than a dark lump. Satoshi felt a small sense of satisfaction and relief wash over him and carefully settled down nearby to keep watch; it wouldn't do if they were caught by a few stragglers or trackers wandering around.

Satoshi began to notice how the dense trees and grasses tapered off as they came closer to the border. He could make out only tufts of grass after a while, and the trees were replaced by towering, leafless green things which the gamekeeper called 'cacti'. These plants, he learned, were both food and drink; they were thick and juicy, and full of water. The young prince fell into the habit of cutting a small chunk off them and storing it for later, amazed at how long the plants retained water for.

Once, he saw a shimmering lake just on the horizon, its clear blue waters glistening and trees surrounding it. Ignoring Aquila's growls of warning, he jumped off the horse and raced toward the beautiful lake in front of him, ignoring the burning, dry wind that threatened to scorch the saliva out of his mouth and the soft sand sinking beneath his pounding footsteps. He came closer and closer to the pool, casting aside his normally cool and reserved demeanour in relief at the sight of water, only to find that the pool had disappeared when he arrived there. Staring in bewilderment at the sand dunes that had suddenly surrounded him, he hastily looked around, expecting a number of rebels to suddenly appear out of nowhere and capture him, but the only sound he heard was the wind and later, Aquila's bark of laughter.

The prince later learned that it was called a mirage, and that it happened often in deserts. He did not believe that they were created by demons wanting to lure humans to their deaths, but nevertheless stayed on the horse at all times with a scarf wrapped around his head to protect him from the searing heat of the desert. His heart soared with hope; the sands and heat meant that they would soon reach Khael, and that they had long passed the border between the Hiwatari and Khael lands.

In spite of the unchanging landscape, Aquila appeared to have no difficulty making his way through the desert and Satoshi was secretly glad that the prickly gamekeeper had come along; the journey would not have been half as smooth as it was had he not had the benefit of an experienced guide and tracker. On the morning of the fourth day, Prince Satoshi Hiwatari arrived at the gates of Khael, the Desert Kingdom of the East.

The castle looked nothing like the castles he and his family had lived in throughout their years; instead of cold, grey stone, the walls of the royal palace were white and spiralled up endlessly into the sky, each one capped with a gigantic, glistening golden dome. The Hiwatari prince had never seen anything of the like and as much as he hated to admit it, he could at first only stare and the gigantic structure until his guide ushered him in through the gates.

His first meeting with his cousin went well; Shi Ryuuki might have been scatterbrained, but Satoshi immediately knew that the man was extremely clever; the way he manipulated the scheming advisors in his court showed that. The emperor of Khael was more than happy to let him rest and recuperate in the kingdom, going so far as to offer troops with which he could retake his kingdom. Satoshi politely refused the offer, but made one request: that Aquila would be rewarded and given a position of importance. Naturally, when the gamekeeper heard this request, anyone could have been forgiven for mistaking his reaction of shock for epilepsy or a seizure. The blue-haired prince smiled blandly and felt a twinge of satisfaction as the dark man grimly accepted the position of royal master of the game, responsible for overseeing the emperor's massive forests and all the wildlife in it.

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Thank you so much for reading, and reviews are much appreciated. See you soon!

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Disclaimer: DN Angel is not mine. And whilst this disclaimer may not have any legal value, I would very much appreciate it if you did not try to sue me on grounds of copyright breach. Thank you.

Warnings: S-ai, angst, AU.

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"I can't understand why on earth you wouldn't want to retake your kingdom, your Highness," Kouyuu commented as he paced the floor. "Your land is falling into civil war and even as we speak, it is tearing itself apart. No ruler in his right mind would allow his own country to fall into such a state!"

Satoshi did not bother taking offense at the remark; a week with Li Kouyuu, his cousin's trusted advisor, told him that the man always spoke what was on his mind without thinking about it first. "I don't think I'm the right person to rule the kingdom," he said shortly. Everyone in the room sighed and Ran Shuuei rolled his eyes impatiently, a show of great exasperation on his part already.

"You're better than—" Kouyuu was cut off as the Ran courtier calmly leaned over and placed a hand over his mouth, stemming the flow of words.

The blue-haired prince smiled coldly. "Than who? My father?" The room fell silent, leaving the young minister to slowly turn red with embarrassment. Satoshi stood up abruptly, causing everyone in the room to blink. "I don't care. I don't want the kingdom. Don't bother sending your men to die, Ryuuki. I won't lead them. Place whoever you want on the throne, but it won't be me." With those words he left, smirking at the stunned reaction of all the nobles in the room. Was it really so difficult to understand that he wanted nothing to do with his former heritage?

He walked out into the scorching heat of the day and leaned against a smooth plant that was also called a cactus, but much different from its spikier cousins. He revelled in the shade but at the same time remained outside, unwilling to go back indoors to where his cousins would try and persuade him to take the throne and reunite the country. He didn't want to be known for great deeds or acts of heroism. All he wanted was a quiet life, away from the scheming world of politics and advisors who secretly plotted his downfall. He'd thought that Ryuuki, out of all those people in that room, would understand better than anyone else. The one fundamental difference between them, he thought coldly, was that Ryuuki was capable of ruling. He wasn't.

Night fell and he shivered slightly, still unused to the dramatic change in temperature in this desert country. He frowned lightly as the sound of someone muttering reached his ears. It sounded like Kouyuu and Satoshi strained to better hear the voice. "It must have been moved," it mumbled. "Who on earth would move the doorway? Why would they do this, especially at night? Is it because of security concerns?" Suppressing a smile, Satoshi stood up and made his way towards the person. It was definitely Kouyuu. Only Kou Reishin's adopted son would be this incapable of finding the exit.

"Kouyuu?" The man nearly jumped when he heard Satoshi's voice. "Where are you going?"

The other refused to speak and Satoshi tried not to smile. "I'm going to the main dining hall," he said coolly. "Are you hungry?"

"I was going that way too!" The older man fell into step beside the young prince and they silently made their way into the dining hall, Satoshi feeling a small sense of satisfaction at seeing the relief painted openly on the advisor's face.

Dinner was a merry affair, more so than usual because of Kou Shuurei's return. Satoshi kept silent; he had never been good at small talk; but he could see the happiness painted on the emperor's features and the smile on everyone's faces as they talked and laughed with Shuurei. When she naively inquired about the unusual shade of his hair, he politely replied and somehow made her laugh. He liked her immediately, and thought that he could grow used to this place, this country, this number of people at the table with him. _Is this what mother and father always did?_ The thought sobered him up immediately and he quickly excused himself, feeling guilty for enjoying himself when his father was dead and he was still meant to be in mourning.

He wandered listlessly through the halls, brushing past the ornately carved doors and the lavishly decorated corridors, not even daring to marvel at the bright lighting in all the rooms, unlike back in Castle Hiwatari. He berated himself silently for forgetting about his father's death, but of course none of his guilt showed on his face. _I am a cursed child,_ he told himself silently. _I don't deserve the Hiwatari Kingdom. I don't deserve to live, or be happy. I will remain in the Khael Kingdom, and vanish into obscurity. Let my – no – the Hiwatari Kingdom find itself a new ruler. _

Satoshi looked around, realising suddenly that his feet had taken him to a part of the castle which he had yet to explore. He looked around carefully, trying to remember from which way he had come, but his mind registered nothing and all the corridors looked equally unfamiliar. He looked around and picked a corridor that looked likely to be the way out and began to walk. Suddenly, the wind began to pick up and he cursed; whereas the wind was a comforting presence back home, here it meant dust storms and grit in his eyes, hair and clothes for the next week if he didn't quickly find shelter. He squinted into the flying sand and ran towards what looked like a door, breathing out a sigh of relief as his fingers felt a handle and the door swung open, letting him into a small, dimly lit room. A few candles littered the surfaces and a small window allowed the rapidly dimming sunlight to illuminate a few of the dusty surfaces. The young prince frowned and peered through the dust motes floating around, only able to make out one large shape in the corner. It looked quite heavy and large, he noted, and it was covered with a heavy cloth, likely to prevent the object itself from getting dusty.

He didn't know what made him do it; he still didn't. The blue-haired youth walked over to the covered object and pulled the cloth off, revealing a large mirror. It was shaped oddly, a little like a teardrop, and surrounded with an ornately worked gold frame. Embedded into each twist of the metal was a glittering opal, the gem of Sight; Satoshi had never seen anything of the like before. He knelt down to inspect it more closely and looked deeply into the polished glass, wondering how the mirror had managed to stay so clean over the passage of time.

His blue eyes widened as suddenly a shadow floated over his reflection and he looked behind himself, but there was nothing. He slowly backed away and stared even as his own face rippled and vanished, to be replaced by many images blurring together. He saw a vicious battle, a tangle of roses and rushing scenery, as though he were tumbling downwards from a great height. Darkness seeped into the mirror from the edges of the glass and Satoshi stared in fear at the empty blackness in the mirror, wondering what he was seeing. Suddenly a tower flashed through the darkness, a tower so high that he was sure he could see it even from the isolated deserts of the Khael kingdom. Then he saw something that he swore he'd never see again; the green forests and towers of his castle, the Hiwatari kingdom before the High Council had torn it apart in their quest for power. The tower reappeared in the mirror and Satoshi swore that he could hear the wind whispering, "Find Rapunzel."

He stumbled out of the room, unsure of what to think. Satoshi could only focus on the image of the massive tower, and the name Rapunzel. Who, or what, was this 'Rapunzel'? Why was he supposed to look for him/her/it? Was it important? Why was he seeing his kingdom reunited? He stepped out of the room and raised his arm against the bright glare of the sun, now in full force. He decided to find Rapunzel, since that was what the mirror had told him to do. Besides, it wasn't as though he had much else to do with his life, and the thought of staying in his cousin's court for the rest of his days made him shudder.

**The next day: **

"Have you ever heard of anything, or anyone, named Rapunzel?" Satoshi asked the kind-looking archivist. Ordinarily, he would look for the name himself, but in an unfamiliar library he knew that it would be better to ask for someone else's expertise.

Kou Shouka smiled kindly at the youth before him. "I've never heard of the name," he replied truthfully, "but I'm sure there will be something here." He moved fluidly over to one of the shelves, turning to beckon to the blue-haired prince behind him. "This shelf has Western names beginning with the letter 'R'. I'm sure that if there is any record of Rapunzel, you will find it here." The younger man smiled gratefully and thanked the archivist, immediately crouching down to read the words on the spines of the books on the very bottom of the massive shelf. Shouka quietly left and decided to ask his daughter to bring the other some manjuu and tea. He was sure that the heir to the Hiwatari throne would appreciate the food.

Satoshi worked his way through the shelves systematically. Unlike Kouyuu's haphazard genius, or Ryuuki's pure luck, he was sure that he would be unable to find anything in the books he laid his hands on if he pulled them all out randomly. So he began to search, flipping quickly through the flimsy pages and hoping that the name would catch his eye. He paused a few times per book, looking more closely at anything that remotely resembled Rapunzel, but much to his chagrin and dismay, he could not find anything that so much as hinted at what the word meant, or where it came from.

"Excuse me!" Satoshi looked up warily; a remnant of his days in the Hiwatari castle where he'd had to make sure to avoid the queen at all costs. His home had never been as welcoming or as warm as this palace seemed to be.

"Father said you'd be in here." Satoshi's head nodded absently as he returned to his books. "Would you like some manjuu?"

Satoshi looked up. "No thank you," he politely replied. "I'm not hungry at the moment."

Shuurei didn't look like she would take a no for an answer. "I'll put it here," she announced, gently placing the tray on the ground, close enough for him to reach but not so close that it was in danger of being buried under all the books. "Try one," she urged him. "Aren't you hungry?"

The blue-haired boy ignored her. She would leave soon, he thought. Most girls he knew had no interest in what boys did unless it concerned money or power. _But she has her own power,_ his mind whispered. Indeed, Ryuuki had wasted no time in boasting of Shuurei's achievements both at court and in the Sa Province, and thus Satoshi knew that she was intelligent. Nevertheless, that didn't mean she wasn't on the lookout for a husband. All the princesses and nobles he'd ever talked to only had one thing on their minds: marriage. And no matter how nice the girl seemed, he wasn't ready to marry yet. "Father says you're looking for something," she said after a long silence. Satoshi frowned and turned to her. Seeing that she'd gotten his attention, she smiled. It was warm, and more sincere than anything he'd seen back home. Even his nurses and tutors had been distant, fearing the wrath of the queen should they become too close to the young prince. "Rapunzel, is that right?" He nodded.

"I've never heard of that name," she continued cheerily. "Where did you see it?" He gave a half-hearted shrug, not wanting to say anything about the mirror. He was sure that someone would laugh at him, and anyway, madness ran in his family. The entire incident could have easily been a figment of his imagination.

"I don't know," he replied quietly, continuing to rifle through the books all the while. "Someone said it to me, and I wanted to know more. But they wouldn't tell me."

"Maybe it's a country or a city?"

"No, it's definitely either a person or a thing."

"It sounds foreign to here. Maybe he's in one of the other kingdoms." Satoshi noticed that she tactfully avoided the issue of his own country and he shrugged.

"Maybe."

"Would you like some more manjuu?" Satoshi looked down in surprise and stared at the white crumbs on his lap. The plate was completely clean, and he could not help but wonder when he'd last eaten properly. Dinner was a faraway memory and breakfast, for him, did not exist. As though to answer the Kou official's question, his stomach growled embarrassingly loudly. She laughed lightly, but it wasn't mocking laughter, or fake laughter like some of his father's friends. It was genuine and warm and friendly and all the things that none of the councillors' children had ever done when they were playing with him.

He ploughed through the books, surprised at how energetic he felt after the snack even though he had never enjoyed eating. It was only when he found himself squinting in order to read the words in each book that he realised that darkness had fallen once more. Nevertheless, he soldiered on, determined to find something pertaining to Rapunzel. He wanted to leave this palace, and this desert country, and do something worthwhile with his life. At least, before he convinced himself that this entire thing was a figment of his imagination, or he was forcefully replaced on the throne. He did not want to be chained to a kingdom forever; look where that had gotten his parents.

Days passed like this, but to Satoshi's surprise, no one brought up the subject of his regaining the Hiwatari throne once more. Reports and vague rumours of an uneasy peace in his home country reached his ears, courtesy of 'discreet' conversations between Ran Shuuei and his cousin, with the occasional comment from Kou Reishin, but he paid them no heed and continued to search. Then one day, he reached the other end of the archives. He had gone through every scroll, every volume of knowledge in the Emperor's extensive archives and there was still no mention of Rapunzel. Feeling miserable and cheated, he made his way out, only to run into Shuurei, carrying her usual tray of snacks and clearly on her way to the archives. "Satoshi-kun!" She chirped brightly. Sensing that he was ill at ease; she had a knack for these things; she led him to a small alcove next to a large window and he slowly sat whilst she poured the tea and arranged things just so. He blankly stared at the food on his plate, for the first time in a while unwilling to eat. "You haven't found anything?" She asked sympathetically. Satoshi shook his head.

"No. I think I might have to return…" He stopped, remembering that he would likely be dead as soon as he crossed the border. He hadn't ignored _everything_ said about his old home. "But I can't really do that, can I?" He smiled bitterly. Shuurei smiled and placed her hand over his.

"Well, no," she said calmly. "But I'm sure someone around here must know something. Why don't you try asking my father? He might know something about it, since he travelled so much in his youth. I can write a letter to Ensei-san or Eigetsu-kun, and see if they've heard anything about Rapunzel in Sa." Satoshi shook his head; he didn't want to bother her. She was a Sa official, after all; it wouldn't do to impose on her, not when she had so much to do already. "No? Well, that's all right, it's really no trouble for me to do so. And I'll be seeing them soon when I go home, so I can ask them then, if you'd like." Satoshi felt a small flush of embarrassment creep up the back of his neck. He felt so helpless, like always. Little Prince Satoshi, useless and helpless, soft and weak, pampered and spoiled so much that he couldn't even summon up the courage to attempt to retake his own kingdom.

A few days later, he got his answer. Although Khael was mainly desert country, the Emperor himself had exquisitely-tended gardens with dozens of different types of plants all growing together. Some Satoshi recognised from home, others, he found, were completely unknown to him. It was here that he met Ran Ryuuren, the bane of Shuuei's existence and the acclaimed genius of the Ran family.

It started with an awful sound that did not remotely resemble anything he'd ever heard before. It was quite dark outside, and the noise pierced the early morning gloom. He lay in bed for a while, unable to move and too sluggish to do anything about it, but soon it became unbearable. He slowly made his way to the window and flung aside the thin drapes, only to see a bizarre figure standing in the Emperor's garden. He squinted a little and soon made out the shape of a man, wearing a turban on his head and a long cape. The figure turned around to look at him and Satoshi stared, unable to react as it approached him. "Who are you?" The man asked. Dimly, the blue-haired man noted that the other peson was carrying a flute and guessed that the instrument must have been the source of the frightening cacophony that had so rudely awoken him.

"Stop making that noise," he said bluntly before turning away. It did not occur to him until after the strange man leapt into the room through his window that he could have just allowed an assassin into the palace.

"It is music," the strange person declared proudly. Satoshi eyed him sceptically before returning to bed.

"I don't care what it is," he mumbled sleepily. "Just go play it somewhere else."

The screeches soon killed any hope he might have had of getting a decent night's rest. "What do you want?" He growled irritably.

"What's your name?"

_You can't be serious. _"It's rude to wake someone up and then demand their name without first telling them your own."

"What if I'm an assassin?"

"Then you'd tell me your name, I'd turn pale and faint away and make your task of killing me that much easier."

"You're very morbid. Not like Soul Friend Number One or Number Two at all. But you're smarter than Idiot Brother Number Four." The prince wondered what he'd done wrong to deserve this fate.

The sun rose, and Satoshi had long given up sleep as a lost cause. He had briefly toyed with the idea of stealing Ryuuren's flute and throwing it out of the window as soon as the other youth had fallen asleep, but unfortunately the man showed no signs of fatigue in spite of the ungodly hour. He had endured a long monologue on the virtues of Ryuuren's two 'Soul Friends' and by the time the youngest Ran began to detail 'Idiot Brother Number Three's' faults, the Hiwatari prince had given up on getting any rest at all.

They made their way down to breakfast in due course, where Kouyuu took one look at the genius of the Ran family and mumbled something under his breath about 'weed-pulling idiots'. Satoshi decided right there and then that he had been most fortunate in escaping Kouyuu's fate. Of course, he later reflected at breakfast, putting up with Ryuuren for a whole night was completely and utterly worth the horrified expression on Shuuei's face, especially when the youngest Ran loudly asked if Kouyuu had improved since 'the first time', which caused Kou Reishin to stand up and haul his foster son out of the dining hall with a face like a thundercloud, and turned Shuuei's normally smiling face into a mask of absolute embarrassment. It was not every day, after all, that one saw Ran Shuuei look anything but self-satisfied.

"Ah, Ryuuren!" Shuurei suddenly said as though she'd just thought of the idea. "On your travels, have you ever heard of anything called Rapunzel?" The genius frowned slightly.

"How is it written?" He asked mildly, no trace of the eccentric genius anywhere on his features at all.

"Ah, I'm not sure," Shuurei laughed. "But Satoshi was looking for it, and I thought you might know."

"Who? Satoshi? The prince of the Hiwatari kingdom?"

Shuurei looked slightly bewildered. "Ah, Ryuuren, you came down to breakfast with him…" she laughed.

Dark eyes swept over to Satoshi and they blinked once, twice. As he looked back, the blue-haired youth suddenly saw why people called Ran Ryuuren a genius; those eyes had nothing to do with playing the flute in the most appalling manner known to man, or wearing that ridiculous turban with feathers stuck in it. It was something to do with the way they looked at him, knowing but not pitying. For that small fact alone, Satoshi was infinitely grateful. "I thought you didn't know my name," he found himself confessing.

Ryuuren ignored him, turning back to Shuurei. "How is it written?" He asked. The Kou princess turned to the blue-eyed boy and waited quietly. The Hiwatari prince frowned, thinking about how he would write it, were he forced to do so.

"R-A-P-U-N-Z-E-L," he said finally. Ryuuren's fine eyebrows rose and something fluttered in the youth's chest. Would he finally find the answer to his puzzle?

"It's a plant," the Ran genius responded. "It looks rather like a cabbage, but the leaves are tinged with dark scarlet instead of green. It's said to be very good for women with child, and only grows in warm, damp areas, like marshes. We don't have any of those here in Khael." Satoshi's shoulders slumped; was the mirror telling him to look for a _cabbage_?

"Are you sure it's not a person?" He blurted out before turning red as everyone stared at him. He wondered where his manners had gone; back at home, he would never have dreamed of interrupting a conversation. Then again, there were no nurses or tutors here to reprimand him for his lack of manners.

Ryuuren's shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Perhaps. Although it would rather be like calling your child 'Carrot', or 'Celery'."

In any case, he had found part of the answer to the mystery. Not wanting to stay any longer, and fearing that his royal cousin might force him onto the Hiwatari throne, Satoshi decided to leave quickly and quietly. However, he also knew that he would need maps, or at least a rough guide to show him how to return to his kingdom. He could no longer rely on Aquila's help; the man was so busy with keeping a watch over the king's massive grounds in this desert country that he would surely not wish to leave his job. Nevertheless, the prince felt that it would be worth a try seeking out the older man's advice before starting his journey.

"Go, then." Satoshi stared in surprise at the one man he thought would provide the most resistance to his idea. Aquila glared and turned back to his horse, but Satoshi recovered quickly enough.

"What?"

The gamekeeper growled and turned to face the confused prince. "Go back home," he told the younger man. "Go and find the cabbage, or whatever you call it then."

Satoshi was surprised at the lack of interest on Aquila's part. "Aren't you going to protest?" He asked. He did not want to look a gift horse too closely in the mouth, but he expected vehement protests. Nothing at all like this grudging acquiescence.

"Do you expect me to be your guardian?" Satoshi did not say anything. "You don't want to go, do you?" Satoshi unconsciously straightened to look down at the other, unknowingly mimicking his father whenever questioned.

"I beg your pardon?" Aquila laughed roughly. The blue-haired prince frowned lightly at this open mockery, although he had long become accustomed to it. The gamekeeper was not as subtle as the nobility he dealt with usually, and his words were usually well-meaning, if not always tactful or kind.

"Don't beg my pardon, your Highness." Those alert brown eyes, surrounded by wrinkles that no man of his years should ever have to bear glanced up at him. "You're looking for an excuse not to go," he snapped shortly. "You'll keep telling yourself that you need to look for maps, advice, a guide, supplies, but you'll never make it out of those gates." The prince's brows drew downwards coldly.

"Are you saying that I'm afraid?" He demanded angrily.

"Of course not. I'm merely saying that you're looking for a way to delay the trip. Whether you're afraid or not is an entirely different matter. _Are_ you afraid?"

Satoshi opened his mouth, a searing retort on the tip of his tongue until the full impact of Aquila's words hit him. To his surprise, they stung even though he thought that he was fully immune to the taunt of 'coward', the one thing his people had shouted at the castle gates every day until he'd been moved to a smaller, less conspicuous building. Blinking back a sudden sting in his eyes and fighting back the small wisp of hurt at Aquila's words, he quickly turned and walked away. The Master of the Game watched him go, brown eyes narrowed and shimmering with the barest hint of regret.

The prince knew that he would get no help from Aquila. It appeared that the man viewed his duty as already done, and no longer wanted anything more to do with the Hiwatari clan, or its war-torn kingdom for that matter. Satoshi hastily pulled books out from amongst the shelves in the archives, more for the sake of doing something rather than actually, actively seeking out maps. The gamekeeper had not used any, but he knew that they were essential if he was to return on his own. So immersed in his task of raking pamphlets, sheaves and bundles of paper out was he that he did not even hear Shouka's footsteps, or the rattle of his dreaded tea set.

"My goodness, your Highness. Is something the matter?" Shouka knew better than to confront the other about the mess in his archives; he could tell there was something heavier on the other's mind.

Ice-blue eyes glared fiercely at him from amongst the books scattered around his feet. "I'm leaving," the prince declared. Shouka smiled and nodded.

"Of course you are. Where to, may I ask?"

"Home."

It appeared that despite his proclaimed disinterest in the affairs of his father's kingdom, Crown Prince Satoshi Hiwatari was still very much attached to the forests and lush green lands where he'd been brought up. He still thought of it as home.

"And what will you do when you reach home?" He inquired. "Does this, by any chance, have something to do with those maps of our lands?"

"Don't patronise me! I will find those maps! I _will _return home! Even if I have to march there with an army of a hundred thousand men gathered from Khael and Arandakar, I will return home!" Satoshi's voice cracked at the end of this final sentence and Shouka serenely glided forward, sweeping books and scrolls out of his path and gently bending down, extending a hand to Satoshi. "Your Highness, perhaps you should get up and have some tea first. Just leave the papers; they can wait." Smiling all the while, he hoisted the other to his feet, surprised at the young prince's lack of weight.

He sat the boy down and poured him a small cup of tea, gently talking to the other all the while. "I brewed this tea myself; perhaps you'll tell me how you find it? Seiran and Shuurei never seem to take kindly to my little 'extra' additions even though I'm sure it's not that bad – be careful, your Highness!" Satoshi had snatched the delicate piece of china up and drained the tea in one gulp, slamming the cup down on the table and rattling the teapot. Blue eyes stared at him in shock as the blue-haired youth keeled over and fell out of his chair, the stress and the appalling taste of the tea dragging him into unconsciousness. Shouka stared down in surprise at the young man. "Well," he murmured to himself, "perhaps I _might _have boiled it for just a little too long…"

He awoke in a dark room. The searing sun of the desert kingdom had long gone down, leaving a slightly cooler breeze to waft in through the window and the clear moonlight to gently fall across his bed and the small table next to his head. Used to being alone, he did not even register the shadowy figure watching over him in a hair until he stepped on the person's foot. "I'm sorry!" The prince gasped, jumping backwards. "I did not mean to –"

"That's all right. Here," a thin cup was pressed to his lips, "Drink. Shouka sent for me when you lost consciousness in his archives." The voice was warm and soothing, but Satoshi paid it no heed.

"I lost consciousness? But how?" His mind slowly recovered and as it did, the mist over the events of the past few hours lifted and he hastily pushed the drink away, the foul taste of that tea returning to haunt his mouth. "The tea?" He asked without thinking. The healer laughed softly.

"Best you not let Shouka-san hear about that," she gently said. "It would break his heart to know of your opinion." Satoshi felt himself colouring and thanked the darkness for the cover. It would not do if he was seen blushing like some young maiden. He was not, after all, a princess, even if the people in the Hiwatari kingdom now told jokes about the eunuch prince who had not dared to come and rescue them from the clutches of civil war.

"The maps," he rasped out, trying to disentangle himself from the mess of sheets. "I need to find those maps." He leapt out of bed, only to stagger and almost fall on his face once more. Surprisingly strong hands firmly but gently pulled him back up, and he sat heavily on the bed.

"Be careful, your Highness. It would not do for me to tend to you for these few hours and then have you injuring yourself once more. I do not heal only to have others undo my work." There was a faint hint of steel behind that voice now and Satoshi felt compelled to obey. The only person he knew who had that power besides this healer was his old nurse, and she had died a few months ago in the care of her family. He remembered giving them a monetary pension of sorts. "Have some more to drink." There was now a note of faint amusement in the voice. "Rest assured, it is not the rest of Shouka-san's tea."

Satoshi gulped the rest of the water down and breathed in deeply, forcing his emotions back inside where they belonged. "Thank you," he whispered into the darkness.

"It is no trouble," the healer serenely replied. "Can I trust you to remain here whilst I tell Shuurei-san and her friends that you are all right? The Emperor himself has been asking about your health when he heard of what transpired in the archives."

The prince shrugged carefully, slowly trying to get out of the bed once more. "I would like to go out," he replied cautiously. "Perhaps I could come with you?" There was a pause and then the rustle of shifting robes.

"I think not," she replied in amusement. "I shall fetch them. You are exhausted from your journey and the pain of leaving your home. And I can see from the pallor of your skin that you have not been eating well. You must take care of yourself, your Highness. If I may be so bold as to suggest that, of course." That serene, calm voice brooked no argument and Satoshi could tell that the final phrase was only a formality and little more. This woman spoke with authority, and expected to be obeyed. "Rest here. If I return and find you gone, I will not be best pleased. Neither will Shuurei, or the youngest Ran." Satoshi idly wondered how Ryuuren had managed to hear of his incident in the archives and decided to rest for a while. It appeared as though he would not be leaving this room for a while, although the darkness was soothing and nothing like the oppressive stillness that had surrounded him in the west wing of the old castle he and his family had lived in.

A few minutes later, he heard footsteps and the sound of voices, accompanied by a wailing flute. He was tempted to pull the pillows over his head, but that would be a childish act and he seemed to have filled his quota for the year as it was. "Satoshi-kun!" Shuurei burst into the room, followed by two dim shapes whom the prince assumed to be Ran Shuuei and Li Kouyuu. They were inseparable; it was only fitting that they would both come to visit him at the same time. Ryuuren entered in a more orderly fashion, although of course his flute still jarred on the ears in ways that Satoshi had previously thought were not possible.

He spent some time reassuring his…cousin's friends that he was fine and in good health. No, he had not been sneaking swigs of sake in between scrolls and mealtimes. Yes, he had been sleeping well, although this was a blatant lie told only to reassure everyone. No one needed to know about his troubles, especially not the Khael court. During this time, he was immensely grateful for the healer's presence, glad for her timely intervention during loudly-asked questions. "Now then," Shuurei's voice suddenly took on a more serious tone. "I hear you were shouting about bringing a hundred thousand men from here and Arandakar to your homeland. What was that about?" Satoshi failed to notice the way all the men suddenly back away from the Kou official, or the beginning of a large vein making itself known across Kouyuu's forehead even as he slowly moved away from Shuurei.

"I…don't remember," he said truthfully. What he'd said earlier on in the day did not spring to mind; truth be told, much of it was still misty.

She leaned in more closely. "I'm sure you do, Satoshi-kun. You were shouting about how you would return home no matter what the cost, and you were searching quite hard for a stack of maps which, if I remember correctly, were in the Emperor's council room at the time."

He had the feeling that he'd said something very wrong, but being less well-versed in the ways of women, especially women like Shuurei, he did not know any better than to claim ignorance. "I'm afraid I do not remember saying that." There was a muffled laugh and everyone turned to look at the healer whom, they had all decided, was a likeable enough person, if not a little too prone to rising above her station and forgetting herself at times.

"My goodness," the woman said gracefully, waving her fan in front of her face. "Your questions will be the death of him, Shuurei-san."

Before anyone could react, however, Ryuuren interrupted the conversation. "When will you leave then, Satoshi?" Surprised at being addressed in such a familiar way, the blue-haired young man was caught off guard.

"I—"

"Don't be stupid," the healer calmly interrupted. At the look on the other nobles' faces, including Shuuei's, she cleared her throat and rustled again, clearly adjusting the bulky sleeves of her robes. "He is in no fit condition to be gallivanting about the desert or around the borderlands. Besides, there are people patrolling it now."

"Whose?" Satoshi's voice interrupted the woman mid-flow. When there was silence, he spoke again. "Whose people?" Kouyuu muttered something darkly about how, if Satoshi had wanted to find these things out, he should have attended the king's daily briefing sessions, but the prince paid him no heed. The ice-eyed man would have gladly grabbed the healer and shaken the information out of her if he could, but as it was he was barely able to sit up without the aid of the headboard.

There was an awkward silence and finally Ran Ryuuren broke it. "Lord Caelen's men. Do you know the name?"

Satoshi frowned. Lord Caelen? There had never been a Lord Caelen, at least not in his father's High Council. There had been a petty noble once, but he had been exiled for treachery and conspiracy to harm the people. Surely it could not be the same man? If anything, he was expecting either Duke Lamasque or Marquis Toussaint to have gained a small portion of control over his father's kingdom; they had always been the most influential ones. "What about Lamasque or Toussaint?"

The officials shot grim looks at each other. "Perhaps we should discuss this when you are better," Shuuei gently suggested.

His dark eyes were met with ice-blue chips, as hard and cold as the glaciers atop the mountains he had trained in as a child. "No." Satoshi said coldly. "Tell me now. Tell me everything."

They talked throughout dinner, Shuurei sending for food and wine to be brought up as well as some candles. After all, she said, it was better to eat and talk of serious subjects when the room was brightened, lest they be affected by the darkness. Satoshi learned that his father's High Council had been all plagued by a mysterious disease only known as the 'Fire Wasp's Sting', rendering them all incapable of directing their troops properly or even being able to travel to form alliances with each other. Meanwhile, their troops had run amok and become little better than mercenaries, plundering the lands that their lords had gained over time. Then a new figure had arrived, and he had brought an end to the bloody battles which tore the country apart.

"Lord Caelen." Satoshi repeated the name thoughtfully. "He was a useless, petty noble in our court. Of course, he may well have changed over time. Exile usually hones a man, makes him harder than steel and rips all the humanity he has from his body." Kouyuu shifted uncomfortably in the wooden chair and shrugged. "Do you have a physical description of him?" Amidst their discussion, no one realised that the healer had quietly slipped out of the room, down to where the dovecotes were. At first light the next morning, a bird soared out into the gradually brightening desert, heading eastwards, towards Satoshi's homeland.

* * *

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy this next chapter, and thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: **

Disclaimer: I do not own DN Angel or any of the anime characters who make cameos in this story.

Warnings: None as yet.

* * *

Although still not allowed to spend long periods of time outside his chambers or participate in daily matters of court, Satoshi managed to find himself ample entertainment in the form of books and scrolls as well as the visits from his new friends and his cousin. The blue-haired prince no longer dared to mention his need to find Rapunzel, or to seek answers to the questions that the mirror had brought up. Instead, he talked with them about light-hearted matters, such as how to brew tea properly or his favourite books. It felt strange at first; as a child, he had never had anyone to talk to whilst he was sick in bed. He had grown used to being alone, and he felt a small glimmer of happiness and warmth inside whenever someone came in just to visit and talk to him.

He gained strength day by day, slowly recovering from the fear and shock that had preyed upon his mind without his even knowing it. Then, a month later, he was deemed fit enough to return to daily life. Nevertheless, the healer hovered around him, ensuring that he took his medicines and did not over-exert himself. He slowly became accustomed to her quiet presence, sometimes even grateful for it whenever he awoke from a nightmare and felt her cool, soothing hand on his forehead. Much to his gratitude, she did not mention his restlessness or inability to sleep soundly for more than a few hours at most to his friends.

Shuurei regarded him thoughtfully over the rim of her teacup. She was due to return to Sa Province the day after next, but was still curious as to what the Hiwatari heir would do after recovering from his illness. The healer claimed that he would still be fragile because of his already delicate health and the stress he had undergone in the past few weeks, but she had a feeling that the prince would not allow himself to rest for so long. She recognised the restless look in his eyes, even if he didn't realise it himself. She knew that in spite of Ryuuki's best intentions and the need for the Hiwatari kingdom to produce a leader or find a capable heir to the throne, Satoshi would leave the Khael kingdom and journey somewhere else. It might be to the east, to the lands beyond Arandakar and the Sandstone Belt, or it might be to the north, where Athena and her Saints kept watch over the lands of ice and snow. "What will you do after you've recovered?" She asked.

Satoshi did not immediately speak. He wanted to tell her the truth, but he knew at the same time that anything he said would likely find its way back to Ryuuki's ears, and he did not want his cousin interfering in his life. He knew that he had to keep his desire to find Rapunzel a secret; after all, princes did not have the time to go galloping off in search for something that might or might not be a figment of their imaginations, and the last thing he wanted was for his sanity to be called into question. "I don't know," he finally answered. It was the same answer he'd been giving her for the past two weeks, but it was also the best one. It was far better than lying to her and seeing the disappointment that he knew would be in her eyes when she discovered the truth. "I've found the rapunzel."

She smiled. "Thank goodness Ryuuren was around, otherwise you might never have found it," she laughed lightly. Satoshi nodded and carefully smiled back at her, hoping to allay her fears. In any case, he highly doubted that she would find out anything about his journey to find rapunzel until Shi Ryuuki found the time and energy to send a report off to Sa Province.

They talked for a while longer of trivial matters, such as the Emperor's newfound taste for a street dish commonly known as a 'frittata'. Instead of laughing at his folly, or his unrefined tastes, Shuurei seemed to take his predilection for the food as a part of life, and even asked what he thought of her new variation on this recipe. "What do you think, Satoshi-kun?" She asked cheerfully.

"I don't know," he carefully admitted. "I've never had one before." Most nobles never had the opportunity to touch anything that remotely resembled street food, and he was no exception.

"Well, perhaps you can try it next time," she brightly suggested. Seeing that he was about to refuse, she wagged her finger at him in a warning gesture. "You're not allowed to say no," she teased him. "It's rude, and you wouldn't think of being so churlish, would you?" He shook his head and she nodded, apparently satisfied with his reaction. A small glimmer of pleasure shot through him at seeing her warm smile, knowing that it was because of something he had done even though he knew it was childish.

"For goodness' sake, Shuurei," an exasperated voice yelped. "The carriage is waiting! Everyone's already there except for you!" The Kou princess reluctantly stood up and suddenly, without warning, she bent down and placed a swift kiss on his cheek. Satoshi blinked and flushed, and she chuckled. "Take care, Satoshi-kun! I hope we will meet again soon!" In a whisk of skirts and perfume, she was gone. The young prince remained still, astounded at her actions. Then the healer returned with a flash of his medicine, and he turned his thoughts to getting out of Khael without being caught.

It took him a while to plan his departure, but he knew that he had to leave before his cousin's thoughts turned once more to regaining control of the Hiwatari kingdom. However, he still could not lay his hands on maps of the surrounding lands, which he knew would be essential now that he did not have the benefit of an experienced guide any longer. He could not ask anyone about such things; they would only tell the emperor, which would likely result in his being monitored so closely that he would be lucky to relieve himself without the Inner Court knowing. He owed his cousin his life, and perhaps a greater debt than was repayable in one lifetime, but nothing would stop him from finding Rapunzel, or returning back to the land in which he was born.

He wandered about the palace aimlessly, hoping against hope that he would somehow be able to stumble upon the mirror again. Just as he was about to open a door to see what lay inside, he heard his name. "Hiwatari-dono?" It was Kouyuu.

"Ah, Kouyuu-san," he said quickly, too quickly. At that moment, he could have cursed the official for showing up, but the other seemed to be lost in his thoughts again. "Where are you going?"

True to form, the aqua-haired official flushed an unhealthy shade of red. "Um, well, where are _you_ going?" He quickly asked.

Satoshi quickly looked at the scholar and raised an eyebrow at the pile of scrolls that rested in the other's hands. "I was thinking of paying a visit to my cousin," he mildly said.

The look of dumb relief on Kouyuu's face brought an involuntary twitch to his lips. "Of course, of course," the aqua-haired minister agreed with all too much haste. "I was headed there myself. I'll come with you." So they walked to the Emperor's private study, where he held council with his most trusted ministers every morning.

The blue-haired prince blinked at the scene that met his eyes. Ryuuki lounged on his chair, an aura of despair and gloom surrounding him. Kouyuu heaved a sigh of exasperation and almost threw the stack of papers onto the other's grand desk. "Stop moping," he said briskly. "How will Khael function if you whine and groan and wail whenever Shuurei's not around?" Shuuei hid a smile behind the large sleeve of his ceremonial robes and not for the first time, Satoshi envied his cousin for having friends. Even when the man was acting foolishly or blinded by his feelings for Shuurei, they simply smiled and chivvied him along whilst comforting him at the same time.

"Ah, Satoshi," The emperor smiled at him. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," the blue-haired prince replied carefully. "I was thinking of travelling for a while." Ryuuki's fine eyebrows rose slightly, but to his credit, he did not immediately burst out into protest.

"Why?" Satoshi was surprised, but hastily smoothed his face out once more.

"There are things I need to do before I can…return home."

The Emperor of Khael frowned slightly. "If you're looking to muster men, I promise you that I will mobilise every man in Khael to fight for you. I will send messages to the other nations and Houses that stand with me, if you so wish."

Satoshi shook his head. "It's not about alliances or re-taking the country," he replied softly. Brown eyes softened and for a moment, the prince could almost believe that his cousin understood. Then they hardened slightly, and the Hiwatari knew that he was now talking to not his cousin, and certainly not lovesick Shi Ryuuki. He was talking to the Emperor of Khael, a man powerful and intelligent enough to ascend to the throne amidst the bloody chaos that had almost ripped the entire royal family apart.

"I do not wish to return home yet," he finally said.

Apparently, this was not a good enough reason for Kouyuu. "You can't just –" The aqua-haired minister began before his counterpart placed a firm, warning hand on his shoulder.

Ryuuki barely spared a glance for the other man. "Duty is not a piece of clothing, to be worn only occasionally," the emperor mildly commented. "You, of all people, should remember that."

"And this is exactly why I wish to travel," Satoshi said shortly. "I have been constantly surrounded by reminders of my parents, and my father. Perhaps he put his faith in the wrong people, but he has paid dearly for it. I do not intend to return to a country that bays for my blood."

"You will not leave here," the emperor stated bluntly. "I refuse to let you outside the borders of my country, for your sake as well as mine. Heaven forbid that I let any member of my family recklessly wander about, as though he were on some countryside jaunt. I will not allow you past the gates of this palace, if that is what it takes to make you see reason!" Satoshi felt desperation welling up inside him. The desire to find Rapunzel or at least figure out the mirror's enigmatic message grew stronger with each passing day, and he knew that to ignore the feeling would be to deny himself yet another thing in his emptier than ever life. He did not know what he would do after accomplishing this deed, but for now, it was enough incentive. As though in a dream, he felt his knees hit the floor.

"Please," he whispered hoarsely into the floor amidst shocked gasps. Even the Emperor seemed taken aback, although of course there was no way to gauge the effect of his actions without looking up. "Please, your royal Highness, most great and mighty Emperor of Khael. Please, I beg of you, let me go." Silence echoed in the tiny chamber.

"Why do you want to go so badly?" Ryuuki's voice was still as calm as ever and Satoshi took a deep breath before answering. He would need his wits about him, now perhaps more than ever.

"There's no reason to keep him here," Ryuuren suddenly said. Everyone turned towards the Ran prodigy, who merely looked at the Hiwatari prince.

"Don't be stupid," Shuuei snapped. "What if—"

"I will keep watch over him myself," the younger one retorted. "I intend to leave soon, and he can come with me then. If you so wish, I will—"

"No."

The Emperor appeared to have made his mind up firmly. "Honoured cousin, rise," he commanded. When the prince did not obey, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Do not grovel so. It is unbecoming and does not speak well of me." Satoshi reluctantly rose. "I cannot let you leave, both for your sake and mine," the brown-haired man gently said. "The guilt of losing you, should you return to your country and meet with misfortune, would not allow me to show my face for weeks. I cannot let you leave, not when you are still recovering from your ordeal." Satoshi slowly nodded, eyes closed.

"My deepest apologies, your Majesty," he said shortly. "I did not intend to behave in this way." He swept out of the room in a swirl of robes, leaving a stunned number of officials behind. Shuuei glanced over at Ryuuren, whose dark eyes seemed lost in thought as though they were seeing something else. Try as he might, the young general could not repress a shudder.

_I was wrong,_ he thought to himself, repeating it over and over again. _I was wrong about Ryuuki, Shuurei, Shuuei, Kouyuu, all of them. They don't really care about me. None of them do. They just want me back on the throne so that their entire system of alliances doesn't break down. _Satoshi closed his eyes and leaned against the low wall, ignoring the heat that rippled around him in waves. _I'm nothing but a pawn to them. Not a family member, not a friend, not even an acquaintance._ He turned around and stared out at the bright sun and the endless stretch of sand dunes, rolling into the distance. He now knew what he had to do.

A mere month and a half later, Satoshi Hiwatari slipped out of the castle grounds and vanished amongst the numbers of merchants and farmers making their way into the capital. By the time the emperor found out, he was long gone. Needless to say, Khael erupted into a flurry of activity, each province issuing notices and posters with descriptions and a rough drawing of the Hiwatari prince. Of course, no one found him. By the time they called the search off, the blue-haired youth was back in his old kingdom.

His calm exterior belied the fear and apprehension that curled up in his chest like a heavy rock. As he travelled towards Ginka, where he knew he would be able to find a reliable guide to take him back to the kingdom, ominous rumours reached his ears. Some were of resentment against the prosperous Hiwatari kingdom, which was still in the throes of civil war and starvation; others were of the new men rising to power. Above all, one name stood out: Lord Caelen. No one knew where he had come from, or how he had risen to power. All they knew was that he brought a powerful force of mercenaries and fiercely loyal soldiers, and that he had the devil's own luck. All his enemies had fallen at his feet, sometimes without ever having made their true intentions known.

Nevertheless, nothing would stop him from returning to look for Rapunzel. Satoshi travelled through the land, quietly paying everyone to remain quiet. Wherever the innkeeper seemed a little too interested in his story, or appeared to remember what the quiet, withdrawn former prince of the Hiwatari clan looked like, he would drop a little extra gold into the man's hand and softly buy his silence. This worked well enough; at least, until he reached Ginka.

The first time Satoshi saw Ginka, Khael's prosperous capital, was during some sort of festival. He had read of it in books, but never had he expected to see anything of the sort. He slowly walked through what appeared to be the main road, ice-blue eyes taking in the sights, sounds and colours. Jugglers tumbled across his path, street performers banged on their drums and competed with street hawkers and pedlars to draw people. He cautiously approached a rosy-cheeked, middle-aged woman holding a tray of colourful flowers that smelled heavenly when a tall man, a street performer obviously, jumped in front of him. "Excuse me—" The prince began.

"Ah!" Amethyst eyes regarded him, their corners crinkled in amusement. "My apologies, good sir." He bowed flamboyantly. Satoshi did not know what to think. "Would you like some flowers from this lovely lady?" He moved gracefully aside and gestured to the motherly looking flower-seller, who laughed merrily and flapped her hand at him. "Or would you prefer mine?" The man suddenly leaned forward, flapped his hand once and behold! A small bouquet of flowers seemed to erupt from the palm of his hand. "For your lady love, perhaps?" Satoshi smiled and carefully tried to edge aside, but the other persisted.

"Oh, my good man! Do not be so cruel!" In a dramatic gesture, he fell to his knees and clutched at his chest as though mortally wounded. "Spare me a glance, a look, a smile, anything! Do not leave me like this!" Suddenly, the other members of his troupe; they had to be a team, as they all had matching clothes; rushed forward, yelling and surrounding the youth.

"And so," a blond man declared grandly, "begins our tale." Someone gently pushed him back and Satoshi hastily moved, embarrassed at the purple-haired man's actions. Nevertheless, a part of him wanted to stay and watch, for he had never seen a street performance before.

The story itself was an old one; the tragic tale of a poor farmer who gave up everything he had to win the favour of his lord's daughter. Nevertheless, the troupe infused it with humour and soon a crowd had gathered, clapping and cheering at all the right places. Satoshi had never seen such a lively performance before. When the farmer finally laid his life down for the daughter's wrongs, he felt a small prickle behind his eyes whilst some of the audience was sniffing and openly taking out handkerchiefs with which to wipe their eyes. "And now, most kind audience," The 'farmer' called, rising to his feet, "you have heard our tale. We do not ask for much, but a little food or token of appreciation would be most welcome!" He swept the wide brimmed straw hat off his head, and began to move around the crowd. Most people put in a coin or two, and Satoshi reached into his pocket only to feel emptiness. He frowned and reached in a little further, and suddenly his fingers came back out into the air. The blue-haired youth paled and frantically began to search his pockets, fighting the rising dread in his throat.

He must not have concealed his anxiety very well, for as the performer passed by, he once again felt the full force of those cheerful amethyst eyes. "Goodness, what have we here?" He was pulled to his feet by a firm yet gentle grip, and the man looked at him carefully. Satoshi looked back, desperately hoping for help, but knowing that none would come. "Methinks we have a thief here!" The performer spun away, deftly tossing the hat full of coins to one of his fellow performers.

"You mistake me," Satoshi stammered out, taken aback. The crowd was muttering darkly, and he hoped that the performer would not accuse him of stealing anyone else's money.

"I am never mistaken!" The man declared dramatically, the lilt in his voice showing that he was acting. "But we will speak of this later. For now, watch, laugh, and be merry!" The musicians behind him struck up a merry tune, and the performer danced away, his lithe body twisting and jumping in time to the music. The audience began to laugh and clap, and the mood became lighter. Nonetheless, something told Satoshi that he would do well to see the dark-haired actor at the end of the day.

He stayed around the troupe for the rest of the afternoon, smiling a little at their antics and wondering how they could be so skilled when many of them showed an inability to read; they must not know, or else he would have likely been taken to the mayor of the city to be sent back to the palace like a parcel.

Evening fell and Satoshi slowly, cautiously approached the actor. He had not said anything more to the blue-haired youth, and certainly he had had more reason than most to ignore the young man. After all, Satoshi reminded himself, he was not a prince or an honoured guest any more. He was just another face in the crowd, another pair of eyes in the large numbers of people swarming around the troupe. He eyed the back warily, unused to the raucous laughter and the sheer _energy _that emanated from everyone, even when they were merely returning to their shelters after a hard day's work. "Um, excuse me—" Then suddenly the purple-haired actor raced forward to help another group of women raise their tent, and he could no longer say anything to the other without shouting. He followed quickly. "Um, sir, could you please—"

His voice was drowned out by the chatter of the performers, but the blond man who appeared to lead the team noticed him. "Dark!" The man barked. When the purple-eyed performer did not respond, the golden-haired actor walked over and to Satoshi's shock, placed a solid hit on the darker man's head. The prince saw them talk for a while before those sharp eyes glanced his way once more and the actor came over, whistling a tune that sounded much like one he'd heard at home. A small pang of wistfulness shot through him and he was surprised; he hadn't expected to hear anything that reminded him so much of his childhood.

"Oh, it's the penniless youth," he laughed. Satoshi frowned; he did not like being mocked. Something must have shown on his face, for the other leaned down slightly, long purple locks brushing across his face gently. "Don't sulk like that, the girls won't like you," he teased.

"I don't care." The actor appeared surprised, but he took the short sentence in stride. His merry laughter rang throughout the air.

"Is that so?" The blue-haired prince frowned. He could not shake the feeling that he was being mocked, although for what he could not say. It was as though he was being laughed at for being him, merely for the act of existing. "Well, then you're a confident fellow! But why, if you are indeed as confident as you act, did you stay here? Why did you not move on, or spend some time visiting the Red Lantern district? Their company would be far more entertaining than I, or my good friends, could ever be. Are you truly penniless, or you merely did not wish to contribute to our dinner funds tonight?"

Satoshi could not answer, for fear that he would be laughed at. Then again, he supposed telling the truth would not come amiss; it appeared that this performer had already discovered the problem. "I…"

To his visible relief, the man smiled and straightened up once more. "You can come with us," he amiably offered. "For a while, at least. But mind yourself," he added sharply, "you'll have to work for our company! Where are you headed to, may I ask?"

That was an easy question. "The borderlands, between here and the Hiwatari kingdom." Dark threw back his head and laughed once more, much to Satoshi's ire. There was nothing funny about his answer; at least, not anything that he could detect.

"Hiwatari kingdom! My goodness, you are a funny one. That joke alone would earn you enough coppers for a bun!"

"What's so humorous about that?" Satoshi asked.

The purple-haired young man waved a hand carelessly. "Oh, nothing, nothing at all. Pretend I never said anything. Here," he quickly said, changing the subject, "we're headed that way too; the wind tells me that we'll be finding plenty of audiences looking for a good laugh, no matter how fleeting it may be. And who knows? Perhaps we'll find ourselves playing for the king, or lord, or whatever's in charge that day. Would you like to come along?"

Satoshi thought about it. This man in front of him seemed odd, and it was hard to tell what he really thought, but he didn't seem like a bad sort. Truth be told, there were worse people to take up with, and chances were that if Ryuuki was still looking for him, he would be more easily ignored if he were travelling with a group of players rather than on his own. "I accept your offer," he softly replied. Amethyst eyes lit up as though they were genuinely glad to hear those words, and the man spat in his palm, extending it. Satoshi swallowed and clasped the offered hand, trying desperately not to cringe at the slick feeling.

"Bit of a newbie, aren't you? Well, I'll take that anyway, though I recommend that you spit in your own hand. Shows sincerity, you see? Anyhow, let's get you introduced and you can start helping us out. Any skills you'd like to tell us about before we set you to washing dishes, clothes and running errands?"

Satoshi thought about it. "I can read," he offered.

"Psh, no one needs that. You don't see us reading very much, do you?" The entertainer waved a hand dismissively. "Anything else you can do with those soft, lily-white hands? Act? Sing? Dance?" Satoshi hastily shook his head and the other sighed in disappointment. "All right then," he said finally. "You'll just be our odd job boy then."

"What's your name?" The performer seemed taken aback, and then he laughed once more. This man seemed to laugh at everything, Satoshi noted.

"Oh, my, silly me, I've forgotten the most important thing! Though you, lad, are just as brave, taking up with a ragtag bunch whose names you don't even know! Right then, I'm Dark, Dark Mousy." He bowed elaborately once more and Satoshi finally realised why he could not read the man; it was as though he was always acting, even when not in front of the audience. "The blond man there, who's always hitting me, is Krad. He's the narrator and leader of our little troupe, although between you and me, he's quite a harsh bugger." The prince cringed a little at the language and the actor laughed. "Embarrassed? You'll hear much worse once we're done with you. Now," he returned to the task of introducing the performers, "those two pretty twins over there are Risa and Riku. They sing and dance, and generally draw people to us. Risa's the chatty one, and Riku's the tough one. That boy over there with dark hair and deep, deep blue eyes is Heero, really quiet one so don't take offense if he just ignores you. The one with the long braid is Duo, really talkative but a great guy for when you need to just," Dark grinned at this point, "_relax_. The guy over there with what looks like a deformed cowlick is Trowa, I'd think he was mute if I didn't actually hear him ask for a smaller target during his performances but he's great with knives, tumbling and animals. The blond is Quatre, I swear he's our resident medium but don't tell him I said that, and finally there's Wufei, the only one who fits in here. He's got a bit of a temper so don't take it too personally if he shouts at you. Got it?" Satoshi nodded slowly, at which Dark clapped him firmly on the back. "If you need anything, come find me. Otherwise, go ask Quatre since he's least likely to scare you." The younger one stiffened slightly at this perceived insult, but the amethyst-eyed man's tone showed no malice. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to drop a few, gentle words into Krad's ear about you…say, what's your name?"

"Satoshi H-Hiroyuki." If Dark thought anything of his almost-mistake, his face did not show it.

"Right then, Satoshi, let's get you all sorted out."

* * *

Happy belated Chinese New Year everyone, and hope you all have a wonderful Year of the Ox! Thank you for reading, and hopefully I'll see you all again soon!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Disclaimer: I do not own DN Angel.

Warnings: None really.

* * *

It had been four days since he had joined this strange troupe and Satoshi still was not sure what to make of this experience. The jesters in his father's court had always been individuals, and certainly not half as talented as this group appeared to be. They shifted from tightrope-walking and acrobatics to juggling and live performances, often choosing to re-enact folktales gathered from the villages they had travelled through previously.

Although Krad was the 'official leader', in charge of procuring food and shelter for the little group, Dark, Quatre and perhaps Heero were the ones who held the group together. The three of them would sort out any disputes in the group, as well as decide on what to perform in the next town. On his fifth day of scrubbing pots and cleaning equipment (he had been deemed too 'weak' by Wufei to handle heavy lifting), Duo sauntered over and much to Satoshi's surprise, picked up a dirty plate and began to wash it alongside him. "Say, Satoshi, you've been here for a bit, you know how we work right?" Satoshi nodded, wondering what the other man was trying to say.

"D'you think you're up to performing, or doing something other than cleaning up?" The braided youth asked, purple eyes dancing and omnipresent grin on his face. The young prince blinked, thrown off-guard by the abrupt question.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked in slight disbelief. It must have sounded harsher than he'd intended it to, for Duo laughed and backed off, holding his hands up in a gesture intended to convey harmlessness.

"There's no need to react like that," he laughed, although Satoshi noticed that he was tenser than he had been before, arms held slightly rigidly. "I just thought you might be bored of all that," he gestured at the tub of water and the dirty eating utensils.

For a brief moment, Satoshi imagined himself in one of the costumes that the troupe used so often, performing alongside them instead of waiting in the wings to take their discarded props. However, this little fantasy soon vanished as he remembered that he was meant to have disappeared. His cousin would likely have people searching for him by now and he had been lucky thus far, but performing on the streets would certainly draw their attention. Even guards and spies for the government would not be averse to watching a play or two to while away the long, dull hours standing in the baking sun. "I don't think so," he hastily replied. Duo's face fell and he looked back at Heero, who was silently watching them. Then he suddenly stood up and walked back towards his spot at the fire, next to the brown-haired boy. Frowning slightly; Duo could be as persistent as a mosquito when he needed to be; Satoshi returned to scrubbing at a particularly stubborn grease spot, only to be interrupted by Heero.

"Why not?"

"My cousin—" Satoshi stopped himself just in time to remember that he was no longer a prince, or a member of the royal family here. He was just 'Satoshi Hiroyuki', an ordinary youth who happened to lose his purse and garner Dark's sympathy. That was all he really was, now. Dark blue eyes bored into him.

"What about your cousin?" Heero asked bluntly. Taken aback, Satoshi shook his head. It really wouldn't matter if his cousin was looking for him, after all. Since the man was 'ordinary', at least to these people. He couldn't exactly tell them that he was related to the Emperor of Khael, and the missing son of a now-dead king, could he? "

"He's looking for me," Satoshi said warily. "Here, in this city. I don't want him to find me."

Blue eyes narrowed slightly as though their owner was searching for something that would hint at the truth before the other young man slowly turned around and walked away, conferring for a little while with Duo before heading for their shared tent. Satoshi stood there with the washcloth still in his hands, until Riku came by and asked if he needed any help with the dishes. In spite of his reluctance to perform, Satoshi could not help but wonder what he would do if he had accepted the offer. He fell asleep and dreamt that night of performing onstage in front of Ryuuki's court, mocking all the ministers to their faces in spite of the growing murmurs of anger. The dream ended with them dragging him to a gallows, where Duo, of all people, was the executioner. He stared down at the crowd baying for his blood from the platform, Wufei kicked him off and suddenly he was tumbling down, greenery surrounding him instead of the blur of colours that the officials wore. Searing pain burst through his eyes and suddenly he could no longer see. As though from a distance, he heard someone screaming his name…

He bolted upright just in time to catch a large quantity of well-water in the face, flung most accurately by Riku. Shivering slightly, he looked around at the rest of the performers, all of whom were staring at him with wide eyes. Dark was the first to speak. "With a voice like that, you could be a town crier." It was clear that he had scared them, and although he tried not to remember the room in vivid detail, the memory of his mother's death returned. All the servants had stared at him just like this, when they'd found her dead body. Everyone had looked at him with judgement in their eyes and pity in their voices, and Satoshi swallowed hard, trying his best not to scramble away and cower in a corner.

"Right then," Dark said, sounding slightly less shaken, a shadow of authority returning to his voice. "Since he's fine, someone get him a towel. Get changed and back to sleep," he told the blue-haired youth gently. Grateful for this small show of kindness, Satoshi nodded and stood up, heading for his possessions. The others shifted uneasily, although the twins immediately vanished; they had no desire to see a man changing. "What are you all waiting for?" Dark asked crisply. "A show of dubious intent? Come on everyone, let's go. We've got a long day ahead; I want enough money to feed the emperor's Western army!" Duo joined in the banter and between the two of them, they ushered everyone out. Only Krad seemed thoughtful; the rest dismissed his screams as particularly bad nightmares. Satoshi only hoped that he hadn't said something in his sleep that had betrayed his true identity.

The next morning was a quiet affair; Satoshi was at first worried that the group would treat him differently after last night's incidents, but no one treated him differently or asked him how he felt and for that alone, he felt a small measure of gratitude towards Dark. It was refreshing not to be smothered and coddled like he had been at the castle and even in the Khael Palace. He glared at a small, stubborn spot of what looked like five-pepper sauce and scrubbed at it harder, scraping away at it until bits flaked off into the river, likely for some unfortunate fish to devour. The twins should never have been allowed anywhere near a cooking pot, if last night's dinner had been anything to go by. A shadow fell across him and Satoshi turned to see Krad standing behind him. "Leave those," the blond told him shortly.

"Sorry?"

Golden eyes narrowed in impatience. "Have you hurt your head?" The man demanded. "You heard me. Leave those dishes. I'll send someone else to get them."

Satoshi frowned slightly and stood up, hastily wiping his hands dry on his rough tunic. Without another word, Krad turned swiftly and began to head back to camp. The blue-haired man young man followed him silently, mind whirling with questions but unwilling to break the uneasy silence between the two of them.

Out of the entire group, Satoshi had found himself feeling the most distant from Krad. Although he supposed that they shared some similarities, he did not feel as comfortable about the older man as he did around the rest of the group. There was a cold, distant air about him that made him seem aloof, but the prince had seen him occasionally talking to Heero or Quatre, and Dark certainly had no qualms about insulting the man to his face. Nevertheless, he noticed that the blond preferred to stay on his own; even during dinner, he would merely take his plate and vanish, only returning to watch the troupe practice and to sleep. Satoshi did not know where he went, or what he did when he was alone, but he was content to let the other be.

He stared at the back of the other man's white jacket, wondering how he kept it so clean in spite of all his time out in on the streets and moving through the crowds of people. Then again, it did not appear as though he owned much else; none of the troupe did. Perhaps the man washed his clothes every night? Satoshi felt a slight smile rise as he thought of the dignified man squatting on a riverbank somewhere, scrubbing furiously at a spot on his clothing.

They soon reached the campsite. Much to Satoshi's surprise, most of the troupe had already retired to their tents; the only person outside was Riku, who was merely prodding the hot embers of the slowly dying fire to ensure that it did not completely go out. Krad swept by the girl, curtly gesturing for her to go to the river and take Satoshi's place washing the dishes. She shot the blue-haired boy a puzzled look before heading out to do her chores. "Isn't that dangerous?" The prince asked. Krad shot him a look.

"No. Riku is perfectly capable of defending herself."

The blue-haired youth frowned lightly but intimidated by the other's presence, he held his tongue. They walked towards Krad's and Dark's tent, and in an oddly-courtly gesture, Krad pulled the tent flap aside and motioned for Satoshi to enter first.

Inside, Dark was huddled up in a mass of blankets, with a small bundle next to him that was surely Krad's bedroll and blankets. "Good evening, Satoshi," the purple-haired man greeted him as cheerfully as ever. "Krad didn't scare you too much, did he?" Satoshi shook his head and carefully sat down, already aware that the small tent would be unable to accommodate him standing upright. "Good man," the older one commented. "Right, now, Duo's been talking to me about performances and things, and the entire group believes that we need an extra person to ease things along – Krad does narration, but he refuses to do anything else." The actor deftly caught a lump of soft material, undoubtedly thrown at him by the blond, and placed it behind his head. "It won't be permanent, of course, but for this new project we certainly need someone. Besides, it's high time you did something other than wash dishes and clothing." He flashed that grin again and Satoshi carefully nodded. "A little bird also told me that you were afraid of a family member finding you – a runaway, are you?" At Satoshi's shrug, Dark raised an eyebrow but continued. "In any case, runaway or no, you will have to perform sooner or later. And besides, it's a much more entertaining endeavour than just being domestic and whatnot." Satoshi nodded carefully.

"But making me perform would put me out in the open," he calmly pointed out. "I highly doubt that you would sacrifice me just to make money off of a few performances."

"Hardly," Dark replied. He turned sharply to glare at Krad, who was frowning at Satoshi's words. "In fact, I might have to remind you that you're completely at our mercy at the moment." Satoshi winced; the comment stung sharply. "But because we're charming, smart people – except for Krad dearest, that is – we've come up with an idea. You'll get all the masked parts."

Dark beamed at him proudly, obviously expecting him to immediately acquiesce. Nevertheless, Satoshi remained stubborn. He did not want to accidentally catch the eye of a palace spy, much less dressed as a woman and performing alongside street entertainers! "No."

Krad snickered as the purple-haired man leaned back in surprise. "Tch. Why not? It's a good plan, and it'll satisfy your paranoia." Satoshi closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm not paranoid," he said shortly. "I don't want to perform, all right?"

He shifted uneasily as suddenly Dark pushed his face up close. The other man was so close that Satoshi swore he could feel the other's breath ruffling his hair and smell the mint leaves that the actor chewed sometimes. Much to his relief, the other pulled away again, face unreadable in the dark tent. "There's no such thing as 'I don't want to', Satoshi," Dark dryly commented. "I thought you might understand that." The blue-haired prince glared silently; he knew exactly what duty was, thank you very much. He knew and understood the ramifications of duty much better than this jumped-up street performer ever would, or could. Before he could reply, the performer immediately jumped in. "You know, no one would ever think of looking for you here," he commented. "And no matter how many men your cousin has searching for you, it would not matter if you wore a mask. Why are you so set against performing?"

Truth be told, Satoshi feared acting in front of such a large crowd. The memory of his dream came back to haunt him and he shook his head to clear it of such nonsense. "I just can't, all right? I won't remember any of the lines, I can barely act like a normal person, and—"

To his surprise, Dark merely threw back his head and laughed aloud. "Is that all?" He asked. Satoshi frowned; was it not a valid reason?

"We'll teach you, boy, there's no need to be so anxious about _that_," he explained. He laughed again, but this time more softly, and Krad took over.

"It really isn't difficult," the blond explained. "We'll start you off on the smaller parts first, like a serving maid or a footman," he said. "Or one of the musicians; they're always needed for any good performance. After you've mastered the basics, we'll slowly move you onto the larger parts, and hopefully you'll be a better princess than Quatre by the time you get to where you're going." It seemed that neither man had forgotten that he was only a temporary member of the troupe, but they were still determined to treat him as one of them. The blue-haired young man suddenly felt a little ashamed at his behaviour; he had agreed to work with them, and here he was, refusing to do his share of the work. He bit back a smile at the memory of Quatre's 'princess'; she had an uncanny ability to stumble into the audience, forget her lines and halfway through the performance lose her hair. "So do we have a deal?"

Satoshi nodded, this time without hesitation. A hand – he had a feeling it was Dark's – clapped him on the shoulder. "Good lad," the purple-haired actor said approvingly. "Get to sleep now; we've got some training to do tomorrow!"

**Next morning: **

Satoshi did not know all the means of communication within the group; Heero and Trowa both appeared to function without words, Duo with too many, Riku and Risa with the average amount and Wufei with harshness. Nevertheless, he was sure that there was some sort of system within the group, for all of them treated him like a comrade. There was a distinctly approving air about Quatre and a quietly pleased one on Heero's behalf every time they looked or talked to him. This only made Satoshi feel more embarrassed; he felt as though by refusing to act, he had only really hindered them.

"Right then," Dark briskly began after all the cups, plates and chopsticks had been packed away. "We get to switch up our routine again, since we now have a new member." He grinned at Satoshi, who smiled back uneasily. Doubt was now whirling through the blue-haired young man's mind and he wondered how the rest of the group would react if he let them down. "He'll be starting off easy, since we don't want to scare him away, so one of you drummers can play the unnamed official and he'll take your spot."

Satoshi blinked. He knew, just as well as anyone else, that naming officials or even mocking them as a group was strictly forbidden, on pain of imprisonment."Are you…?" He began to ask, only to stop. He did not know whether or not he wanted to know the answer. Dark smiled at him slyly.

"Well, what do you think?"

As the play unravelled before his eyes, Satoshi found himself wondering at the disgust which the performers and many of the ordinary folk seemed to have for the nobility. It was merely a sordid tale of cuckoldry and fatherless children, but there was a distinct similarity between the names of certain characters and other, real-life ministers and officials. The young prince winced as Dark triumphantly narrated the climax of the entire story: the minister's wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy, but unlike his father, he was light of complexion and blue of eye in spite of his parents' both having brown eyes. Being a fool, the official failed to recognise this fact, shouting his joy from the rooftops even as his wife and her lover met in his bedroom and gazed fondly at their son. Dark grinned all around, bowing in an exaggerated fashion before his actors. "So, actors, shall we begin?"

The parts were snapped up quickly, but true to his word, Dark gave Satoshi a small part as a musician, nodding approvingly as the youth caught on to the easy rhythm of the story. He even went so far as to ask Duo to teach the younger one a few of the typical beats which normally accompanied a story; sharp, rapid ones denoting laughter, slow ponderous ones to show a figure of authority, so pompous and arrogant that he could barely deign to lift one foot and place it in front of the other. Satoshi caught on quickly, and with the braided performer's help he soon mastered most of the basics. "You're good," the other cheerily commented. "Better than Wufei, anyway."

"MAXWELL!"

"It's true," Duo winked at Satoshi. "He can't carry a tune to save his life." Thirty metres away, the dark-haired man sneezed violently. "And he sounds like a frog being stepped on when he sings." He cocked his head to one side and thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Well, no, that's not right. Comparing him to such an unfortunate creature would be injustice indeed."

Clearly unable to take this slight to his abilities, Wufei stalked over with the wooden drum still in his hands. "Have you lost your hearing as well as your mind now?" He demanded irritably. "I am certainly more capable of handling the small amount of singing required than you are –" Satoshi blinked, unsure of what to do. He had seen the pair bicker enough times to know that no harm would come of it but normally one of the other actors stopped the argument before it really escalated. He tried to catch the men's attention a few times, but both of them ignored him. A sudden movement caught at the corner of his eye and without thinking, he ducked only to wince at the sound of wood smacking flesh. He turned to see Riku rushing up, her tone annoyed.

"Stop fighting, the two of you!" Duo winced and rubbed at the sore spot on his head, turning pleading eyes on the girl. "But Riku…"

"Don't 'Riku' me!" She barked. "You know better than to wind Wufei up." Rolling his eyes good-naturedly, the brown haired actor waved at the other actor.

"Eh, so sorry for telling the truth." The other turned an interesting shade of puce but left, returning to his original place next to Trowa. Amethyst eyes turned on Satoshi once more. "She's so fierce," he chuckled. "Well, let's see about combining rhythm and dance then, shall we?"

**A few hours later:**

"Now, you raise your leg and hop, maintaining the beat all the while…" Satoshi growled in frustration.

"I feel like a prancing pony," he mumbled.

Duo merely tossed his head back and laughed. "It keeps the audience happy, and don't you like seeing them smile because of what you've done?" Satoshi paused and shrugged.

"Are they not laughing at me rather than with me?"

The other sighed dramatically whilst the blue-eyed young man blinked. "'Tis the life of a travelling performer to make jokes and give easy laughter to all those who see him. You do not understand, young man!" Really, Duo was almost as bad as Dark sometimes. Then he straightened up, and there was a serious note in his voice. "As actors, we are called upon to play many parts. Sometimes the wise advisor, sometimes the people's voice. But most of all, we are their source of laughter. And if that task means that I must be a prancing pony, a prancing pony I shall be!" He tossed his head proudly, like Satoshi's stallion freshly out of the stable and neighed to the skies.

"I thought you were teaching him the drums?" That calm voice was none other than Heero's. Satoshi blinked. "Um, yes, but –"

"You know me, Heero. I'm a very unorthodox teacher." The long-haired man gave his friend a dazzling smile that seemed to have no effect whatsoever.

"Oh? And how do horse imitations come into this?" Satoshi shuffled awkwardly; none of his tutors back home had ever been like this. There seemed to be no respect for silence, or peace, or time for learning; life always intervened.

"We were discussing philosophy." The prince wondered whether there was any worse word to describe their previous conversation. He jumped as Heero directly addressed him.

"Satoshi. What has this idiot been teaching you, if anything?"

Taking a deep breath; he knew that the cobalt-eyed man would brook no excuses; Satoshi began a steady beat on the drum. It was good to focus on the familiar sound and feeling of his palms striking the tough hide. He slowly began to hop on one leg, moving lopsidedly but determinedly stifling all thoughts of prancing ponies. _Concentrate on the rhythm, _he told himself. Then his foot hit something and with a somewhat undignified yelp he tumbled onto his side, blinking in bewilderment. His face flushed crimson with embarrassment as he realised that he must have stumbled on a stone. Duo laughed and bounded over. "Are you all right?" He helped Satoshi brush dirt off his clothing before bursting into another gale of laughter. "An admirable prancing pony you are, indeed!" The younger one almost wanted to crawl away and hide. _Now I've failed,_ he thought miserably. _I should have just stayed with washing dishes. They'll think I'm useless, and really, they don't have much reason to think otherwise. _"Hey, there's no need to worry." Concerned eyes met his. "Anyways, it's a good try for your first time. There's plenty more time to practice beforehand, and we'll work on it some more…"

"Hn." Much to Satoshi's surprise, the other simply grunted and left. Duo beamed at him.

"Isn't that great? He's fine with it! Obviously, there's room for improvement, but –"

"It wasn't." Satoshi interrupted firmly. He had gotten used to having to talk over people after just a few days with Duo; if unchecked, the braided man would talk until the sun rose in the west. "I _slipped_."

"Well, yes, but that was because you had your eyes closed."

"I was hopping around with one leg aloft like some strange pagan dancer about to call the rain—"

"You're determined not to like this, are you?"

Satoshi was taken aback by the comment. "What?" He asked, momentarily forgetting his manners. It appeared that life with these actors was changing him in many ways, and more quickly than he'd thought. "What do you mean?" He stared at Duo, who was still smiling but with less laughter in his eyes and voice than before.

"What do you think I mean?" For a moment, Satoshi was forcibly reminded of the mirror that had landed him in this entire situation in the first place.

"How should I know?" Bewilderment and confusion lent a hint of roughness to his voice and he glared at the other, who was smiling all throughout.

"Ah, nothing." Duo smiled broadly and reached over to ruffle his hair, a habit he'd acquired after learning of Satoshi's age. True to form, the young prince balked as he always did. The older man's smile twitched slightly and for a moment the blue-haired man swore he could see a shadow pass over the other's face. He blinked and it was gone, leaving him wondering whether it had even been there in the first place. "We'll make a fine performer out of you yet!"

Towards dusk, the rest of the troupe finally returned from a long day performing in the streets of Ginka. Krad nodded at Satoshi as he walked past, whilst Quatre smiled and politely asked about practice. The blue-haired youth nodded in reply, still wondering about Duo's previous comment. As usual, Wufei treated him brusquely whilst the twins both smiled cheerfully at him and asked if he needed help with cooking.

As he dropped the mushrooms that the actors had brought back from the market into the pot of water, he thought about Duo's comment. As though it had grown a life of its own, it danced happily in his mind. All his tutors had always told him that he was intelligent, more so than many other children his age. He supposed they were right, because they had seen more of the world than he had and their experience would serve them well, but with his station in life, would they truly say anything different? If he was so intelligent, then why did he not understand Duo's question? Why could he not answer it? Why did he feel as though he had been insulted?

"So Duo, you ready to return to work tomorrow?" Dark asked that night. Duo grinned at the purple-haired man and nodded approvingly at Satoshi.

"Definitely." The other chewed and swallowed. "What do you say we take Satoshi along as well? He can watch, and see where his role is." Dark raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so soon?"

"Well, when else will he begin?" Two sets of purple eyes swung over to him.

"What do you think, Satoshi?" That was Dark. Satoshi hastily swallowed his food and nodded in agreement. Inside, his heart suddenly began to beat more quickly as he realised that he was one day closer to becoming a street performer.

That night, after he had finished his share of the chores, he sneaked out of camp with one of the drums and began to practice, with only the wind and trees for company. He practiced long into the night, reminding himself of all the little tricks that Duo had taught him; not to close his eyes, to bend his knees and pretend that the drum was forcing him to the ground before springing up again in order to jump higher, to twirl every now and again to display the colourful sashes attached to the sides of the drum. All the while, he pondered the meaning of Duo's question. He did want to do this, didn't he?

When he returned to camp, he noticed that the sky was beginning to brighten. He frowned and hastily cleaned the drum, checking it to ensure that there were no weak spots in the hide or holes in the body of the instrument. He barely managed to crawl into his bedroll before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep filled with the thump of street performers' drums.

The next morning, as he had anticipated, Satoshi felt the tiredness of last night's practice deep in his bones. Although he had previously never had to sleep much, only a few hours' rest had done nothing to restore his energy; indeed, it had sapped it all. Upon meeting Quatre's worried gaze, Satoshi immediately shook his head to indicate that he was all right, but could not stifle the yawns that plagued him.

As they entered town, they found that a small crowd had already gathered around Riku and Risa, who had headed out early in order to find a good spot in which to perform. They immediately began to set up; even as the twins enchanted their audience with a beautifully sung tale about the nightingale who fell in love with a human, Trowa and Heero erected the posts which would support the tightrope. Quatre and Duo began to distribute the smaller props and by the end of the song, the entire troupe was ready to begin their performance. Satoshi immediately stood to one side, where he would not distract the audience but still be able to pass the actors any props they might need.

As he watched the performance, Satoshi realised that all the actors genuinely enjoyed their lifestyle. No matter how much they might profess to hate each other, or how quiet they were, they were determined to do their best to bring a smile to the faces of their audience. Even Trowa threw himself into the performance, twisting and leaping on the tightrope and contorting himself into so many different shapes that all who saw him could only stare in wonder. Dark, Duo and Quatre all became their parts; in spite of several impromptu lines delivered to hide the blonde's fumbling, all of them were doing their best. Even Krad, who refused to do anything other than narrate the story, did so in high dramatic fashion. Satoshi watched silently, wondering if he, too, would be able to throw himself into the performance like everyone else did. _How do I pretend to enjoy something, when I know it is not my final goal? How can I be determined _not_ to enjoy myself when it is the only option left to me? _

The show went extremely well, helped along by the fact that the audience whole-heartedly approved of the minister's being portrayed as a cuckold and a fool. No matter how hard the young prince tried, he could understand why. Was the mayor not the one who kept the city safe? He might be a fool in his personal matters, but what was most important was that he could still properly perform his job. If the financial status of Ginka was anything to go by, the city still remained prosperous for the most part. Was there no merit in ensuring that the majority survived, rather than harping on individuals' shortcomings? Nevertheless, Satoshi knew without asking that there was no point in voicing his opinion to anyone in the group; even he was well-versed enough in commoners' ways now to know that any defence of the nobility, unless of a particularly popular political figure, would result in raised voices and likely weapons. No matter how determined he was not to enjoy himself acting, according to Duo, he was not fool enough to blow his own cover. So he remained there silently, running out to fetch drink and food for the other members of the troupe when they were resting, and he remained there in the hot, hot sun of the capital until Krad gave the signal to pack up.

As they trudged back to camp, leaving Quatre and Wufei to buy the night's supplies, Satoshi found himself walking alongside Trowa. Up until now, he had had very little to do with the quiet brown-haired acrobat, but at the same time the younger one felt that he had to say something. "How long have you been doing this for?" The older man glanced at him before staring straight ahead again, obviously keeping an eye on the road.

"I don't remember…"

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Satoshi let out a small 'oh'. He supposed it made sense that Trowa would not want to talk about himself; he had certainly not made his own past known to anyone. They walked along in awkward silence with the blue-haired youth silently reviewing his etiquette lessons. He certainly did not remember Master Saunders saying anything about what to do when encountering people who simply did not want to talk.

"Excuse me," a soft voice interrupted. Satoshi turned to see Quatre looking at them. The blond had silently fallen back to walk with them, and the blue-haired young man was truthfully glad to see him. It had been awkward walking in silence, perhaps because he was now so accustomed to Dark, Duo or the two of them trying to 'talk his ears off', as his old nurse would have said. He realised then that he had only really ever spoken to the two most outspoken members of the group, and occasionally the twins. Risa giggled and blushed each time he so much as looked at her, which confused him to no end and provided a source of never-ending amusement for the entire troupe. Riku, on the other hand, seemed to be a bastion of good common sense, and Satoshi was privately grateful that there was at least someone other than Krad who could keep Dark under control. "Can you see where your parts fit in, Satoshi?" Startled out of his reverie, the prince blinked and looked at the blond in surprise.

"I'm sorry?"

"You'll be taking over Wufei's part tomorrow, and he'll be back on the tightrope. Are you all right with that?" Satoshi looked into those calm blue eyes and then he realised that he was about to do what actors and street performers really did. He swallowed down the lump in his throat, told himself silently not to be silly about it and nodded. The blonde beamed in delight, immediately moving onto conversation about his costume and of course, the mask. The blue-haired youth was grateful for the fact that no one appeared to have forgotten about the need to disguise his appearance as much as possible.

That night, Dark insisted that the performers run through the show once more, this time with Satoshi as the drummer instead of Wufei. Much to the blue-eyed youth's surprise, the darker man seemed determined to help him throughout the entire performance, carefully and surprisingly patiently rearranging his stance. "It makes for a better sound," the other explained shortly. Satoshi frowned and listened more carefully to the sound of the drum when he placed his feet just so, and was surprised to find that the sound did seem more full-bodied. "There's more resistance when you support the drum a little further, so the sound is stronger," the other explained curtly.

"Perfect!" Dark grinned widely and in a show of what Satoshi took to be friendly camaraderie, leaned over and ruffled his hair. "We'll make an actor out of you yet! Ready for tomorrow?" Satoshi fought his sinking heart and nodded, determined to do his best even if that strange feeling in his throat told him not to continue with this folly. "Now for the final touch!" With a flourish, the purple-haired main whisked a heavy, padded costume out of the basket, along with a wooden mask. "This should keep you from being recognised by anyone." He handed them over with a wink. "Try them on."

Satoshi slipped the heavy cloth over his head, trying not to breathe in the dusty smell that indicated when clothes had been stored for too long without being used. Poking his hands through the sleeves, he soon found that they were a little too long. Pushing the cumbersome swathes of cloth away, he put the mask on and found that he had a new problem; because it had been previously used by Heero in an old play, the shape was a little different and the eye-slits of the mask were too high for him to use without adjusting the accessory awkwardly. Krad, ever the perfectionist, surveyed him critically. "Are you sure this is fine?" He asked. "It'll be worse if he can't see because his mask slipped over his eyes." Behind the thick painted wood, Satoshi felt his face heat up as he remembered stumbling in front of Heero and Duo. One of them must have mentioned it to Krad.

"What do you think?" Dark simply asked, turning towards Satoshi.

The blue-eyed young man paused and carefully moved the mask out of the way. He quickly weighed up the pros and cons of not wearing the mask. As he thought of being hauled off by the city guards or someone who recognised him, he no longer felt fear or worry. If no one had recognised him by this time, even when he was standing in the crowd and Dark had singled him out on that day, no one would do so in the next five or ten performances. So long as he did not draw attention to himself, no one could find him. At least, that was what he hoped. So he made his decision.

"That's all right. If no one else is using a costume, I'll go without." Dark's eyebrows rose in surprise, but Krad seemed to be unimpressed.

"Are you sure?" Dark was surprised; he remembered in striking detail how adamant Satoshi had been about disguising himself before agreeing to perform as part of the troupe.

"Let him," Krad said shortly. "It'll be better if he's not the only drummer wandering around in a hot costume." He flashed a smile which showed entirely too many teeth at the young prince, making his heart stop at the thought that the blond might have figured out who he really was. "Besides, it'll be easier to move in ordinary clothes." Realising that he could not turn back anymore, Satoshi silently nodded in agreement.

"All right," Dark nodded and grinned at Satoshi once more, amethyst eyes sparkling in the glow of the flames and making him seem like some entity of the night. "Five for luck?" He held up one hand and Satoshi stared, clearly not understanding. Krad calmly slapped the other on the shoulder, causing him to wince and glare, and the actor pouted in disappointment. "Eh, no one understands me," he mock-wailed as he turned around. "Good night, and don't forget to be up in time!" He disappeared into his tent before Satoshi could reply, and the prince found himself left alone with Krad.

"Good night, Krad. See you in the morning." With a short bow, he turned to leave, only to stop at the sound of the other's voice.

"Wait." Satoshi turned back, puzzled. Surely there was nothing that the blond had to tell him, and only him?

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you would like to perform without any disguise?"

Satoshi hesitated then nodded, as though the other could see him. "Yes. Why?"

He could feel the other shrug. "Just wondering. Good night, Satoshi."

"Sleep well."

That night, he dreamed of walking into the hot sun with his drum. As he began to play, the audience began to laugh and he began to become more daring, swirling around and trying some of the riskier moves which Duo had shown him. Then he looked down, and realised that he was wearing not a stitch of clothing.

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Hope you're all enjoying your holidays! Thank you for reading and see you again soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Disclaimer: I do not own DN Angel.

Warnings: None really.

* * *

The next morning came all too soon for Satoshi's liking. With the memory of his dream still fresh in his mind, the blue-haired youth took extra care lacing up his breeches and threw on a dark green cloak for good measure, although he knew that the sun would soon become too hot for him to wear it. Nevertheless, it helped to ward off the early morning chill as he slowly got out of the tent. As usual, only Krad, Wufei and Heero were awake, the three of them preparing breakfast. None of them, as the young prince was well aware, were what his old nurse would have called 'morning people'. He silently moved towards the fire pit and kindled a fire, so that there would be hot water to make tea with when the rest of the troupe got up.

Risa giggled and leaned on his arm, large doe-brown eyes blinking up at him. "Are you ready for this?" She giggled and flicked her glossy dark hair back. "I remember I was so nervous the first time I had to perform…" He nodded again, remembering that it was a sign that he was listening attentively and continued staring into the fire. Truth be told, he was so nervous about his performance that he did not even remember to blush and frown at the younger twin's antics. Seeing that his attention was elsewhere, she grabbed his arm. "You're no fun," she pouted and flounced off to help her sister prepare for their part of the show. Satoshi frowned in bewilderment before returning to the pot. It would not do any good if the water boiled over and injured him.

The camp slowly began to come to life as the smell of broth drifted through the area. Dark yawned widely as he sat down on the ground, already dressed in his colourful actor's garb. Quatre smiled and politely greeted everyone, with Trowa and Duo following closely behind. The braided youth grinned merrily at Satoshi, clapping a hand on the other's shoulder and asking loudly if he was ready for his first time. The question drew looks of sympathy and encouragement from the rest of the troupe, with Dark going so far as to claim that Satoshi would naturally be all right, because he was in this troupe and not with any other performers. The rest of the morning passed fairly uneventfully, and soon the chatter turned to making sure that today's acts passed smoothly.

They were just a few minutes away from performing now, and Satoshi was feeling slightly unsteady on his feet. It did not make sense; all he had to do was stand around with a drum and hop around like the rest of the musicians, but despite this the pit of stomach still felt as though it was weighed down with lead, and when someone brought him a pork dumpling at midday he could not bring himself to touch it. "You all right?" It was Quatre, wearing the heavy crimson robes of the official's mistress and wig slightly askew. Satoshi was about to reach up to help the other adjust it, but Trowa mysteriously appeared out of the shadows and nodded at the empty performance space. "You'd best go and set up," the green-eyed acrobat told him. With a dry mouth and sinking heart, the younger man hurried out before Quatre pulled him back and handed him the drum. "Best not forget this," the other remarked with a gentle smile.

Satoshi fought his suddenly-wobbly knees and forced himself to stand still with the drum placed just-so in front of him, hands at the ready. He saw the crowd cheering and realised that no one really _wanted _him to fail. All they wanted was a little entertainment, a story which they could tell their children when they got home after a long day. So he began to play, ignoring everything around him except the steady beat of the drum. Even his hops were easy, and he did not crash into anyone else as he had previously feared he might. All too soon, the play ended and the young man snapped out of his daze, only to realise that the actors were taking a bow. Then someone grabbed his hand and tugged it gently. Still slightly off-guard, the blue-haired youth let them pull him down gently and he realised that he was bowing along with the rest of the troupe. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and although his first instinct was to push it away, he let it grow. That was what performers always did after they finished a successful play, wasn't it? They smiled and bowed.

"Not so bad, was it?" To his surprise, it was Krad. Satoshi shook his head. "We'll have another performance in half an hour's time. Go entertain yourself for now. Or you can help out again. It's up to you." The prince nodded and walked off, suddenly feeling slightly peckish.

As he strolled through the marketplace, he found himself gawking at all the sights. He had never been to a proper one before; only seen the merchants' wagons in the palace courtyard, strung up with bright bunting and shimmering slightly from the protective charms plastered on the wooden vehicles. One stall was covered in dark wooden cages, all of which contained small, brightly coloured birds in pairs. "Lovebirds, my good man," the storekeeper told him with a wink. "They'll bring you good luck!" Another had the most exquisitely carved little wooden boxes, with fanciful designs of dragons, phoenixes and other strange beasts that he could not name. He then came to a stall heavily draped with scarves which appeared to be made of silk and gauze. Colourful gems, most of which he recognised, were scattered over the table along with herbs and a large crystal ball, the last of which rested on a delicately carved wooden base. As though drawn by some invisible force, Satoshi moved towards it and gently picked up a piece of jade.

"Good day, kind sir. How may I help you?" A slender youth, not much older than Satoshi himself, suddenly walked out from behind the gauzy scarves. The prince gave a start. "Rest assured. I mean you no harm."

Satoshi took the time to study the shopkeeper. He was of average height, with delicate features that many noblewomen would have willingly died for. Unlike most of the golden-skinned individuals here, his skin was almost translucent, starkly pale in contrast with his fiery hair and deep brown clothing. "My name is Aidan. Who might you be, if I may be so bold as to ask?" The overly formal speech was almost cloying, Satoshi thought before he realised that he had grown accustomed to the actors' informal speech.

"I'm just…"

"Hardly a satisfactory answer." Piercing grey eyes met glacier-blue and Satoshi fought the instinctive urge to draw back in surprise. Not liking the way the other seemed to be quietly mocking him, he immediately stood a little straighter.

"I am Satoshi Hiroyuki." At least he didn't stumble over the false name this time, he thought tersely. Those sharp, sharp eyes assessed him for a moment longer and then a small smile curved those pale lips.

"Well met, Hiroyuki-san. You are not from these parts, are you? You have travelled a long way, although of course this may be explained by the fact that you are a street performer. But you did not start life destined for this road. In fact, I daresay up until recently, you had not dreamed of living the way you are now. Where do you come from?" Satoshi hastily dropped the stone in his hand and fled, afraid that this strange shopkeeper knew exactly who he was. He did not want to be dragged back to the palace, not after coming all the way here.

"Good grief man, where were you?" It was Duo. Satoshi realised that he had run all the way back to where they had decided to act for the day and quickly dusted himself off.

"Nowhere really. I…I just got lost." Amethyst eyes narrowed and then the older boy shrugged.

"What? You got lost? Oh, just get changed. We're starting, hurry!" Satoshi hastily flung on his musicians' garb and hurried out just in time to fall into position with the rest of the musicians. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dark shift slightly and he began to play, forcing all thoughts of the odd shopkeeper out of his mind.

The second performance was surprisingly easy; this time, he remembered everything in astounding detail, as though performing heightened his senses and made him aware of all the little details in the crowd. As the play drew to a close, Satoshi suddenly found himself wishing that it had been just a little longer, so that he could have continued playing. _Is this what all the other performers feel? _He wondered as he bowed once more to the applause of the onlookers. He could not imagine Heero, or Wufei even feeling this sort of exhilaration. He was almost giddy with excitement, soaking up the atmosphere of their performance. No wonder Dark and Duo were so energetic; they were people who thrived on attention, and performing was the best way to get it.

Dark had finished counting the money as they packed the equipment. They were about to return to the campsite when, much to Satoshi's surprise, Krad announced that they would eat at an inn that night to celebrate his 'initiation into the world of street performers'. Embarrassed, the blue-haired young man tried to deter his fellow actors from going to such lengths for him, but Quatre whispered that it would only be good manners to accept. After all, the blond pointed out, it was very rude to refuse such a generous gift. So Satoshi could not but gracefully accept, although he still felt guilty for letting the troupe spend so much of their hard-earned money.

He had never seen the like, not even at his 'birthday parties' at the castle. The inn was small but brightly-lit, and filled with bustle. It was as though someone had taken the entire marketplace and transported it into the confines of a small, communal eating area. The troupe was immediately welcomed with open arms; as payment for the meal, the innkeeper explained, they would have to perform and entertain the rest of the customers in the inn. Krad raised an eyebrow at this, coolly convincing the man to let them perform one play for a full dinner. The innkeeper was about to protest, but at the icy look in those golden eyes he reluctantly agreed.

Satoshi had often been told how lucky he was to have so much good food by his nurses, but truth be told, that hot meal in the inn tasted better than anything he'd ever had as a child. He was still not a big eater, but somehow he managed to finish all the food on his plate and even ask for more. Duo attacked the food as though he had not eaten for years, whilst Riku and Risa both picked at the dishes, claiming that too much food would prevent them from performing well on the streets. Even as they ate, they talked about all manner of things, and Satoshi was astonished at the breadth of the troupe's knowledge; Krad was a surprisingly adept scholar who could discuss any given topic, Wufei had apparently spent most of his childhood in a country that prided learning above swordplay, and Quatre was extremely well-versed in politics. Heero and Trowa preferred to stay silent, occasionally nodding in agreement whilst Satoshi found himself gradually being drawn into conversation. He was in the middle of a particularly heated argument with Krad about whether or not Kou Shuurei had made any substantial changes to Sa Province (he prided himself on having actually met her) when Dark interrupted. "Goodness," the dark man said with a teasing smile, "I think that's the most I've ever heard you say at once!" Satoshi blushed and ducked his head whilst the blond simply ignored his partner. Then those amethyst eyes turned slightly more serious as the other rose to his feet and clapped his hands for attention from the rest of the table. Everyone slowly fell quiet, still surrounded by the babble of the rest of the room.

"Right then, as you are all aware, today was Satoshi's first performance." There was a murmur of laughter at this. "As such, we are gathered here to celebrate this momentous occasion." Dark raised his tankard. "A toast, to our new musician!" Everyone laughed and raised their cups, congratulating Satoshi on making it through the day. At that moment, Satoshi felt a wave of gratitude and affection sweep over him. Lowly street performers they may be, but they had done more for him in the past seven days than his father had ever done in the past sixteen years. Without really thinking about it; something that he would have never done just a month ago; he stood up and held his tankard aloft. The rest of the table looked at him and slowly fell quiet as he began to speak.

"I…" Suddenly, standing up and making an impromptu speech did not seem like such a good idea. "I would like…" He swallowed again, mouth sudden dry. "I would like to thank you all. For…for helping me, and not just leaving me to fend for myself. And, um, thank you very much for letting me perform with you." His knees chose to give out right at that point, and he almost fell onto the bench. Everyone laughed and clapped, and someone immediately shovelled more food onto his plate.

The ale must be going to his head, Satoshi dimly thought as he tried to clear it of the fog that surrounded his thoughts. He heard Dark tell the audience yet another story whilst beside him, the twins provided the sound effects and sent the patrons into another round of laughter. "And that," Dark concluded in a high-pitched voice, supposedly the voice of the duke's sister, "is how three blind men tricked the Duke of Pusan." The room roared with approval and clapped enthusiastically. Satoshi laughed too; it was a humorous story, more so perhaps because of the drink. Riku and Risa then launched into song, and Dark quietly slipped away to rejoin the table. He wedged himself comfortably between Satoshi and Trowa, nodding to the brown-haired acrobat and clapping the younger man's shoulder. "Having a good time?" He asked kindly. Satoshi nodded, not sure if he could speak.

"Thank you so much," he blurted out, unsure of what else to say. "For everything."

Dark chuckled. "Hey, it's not every day you have your first street performance, right?" Then he took a closer look at the other and burst out laughing. "A little flushed with excitement, are we?" Satoshi frowned.

"Of course," he replied. "It's very hot in here." For some reason, the other performer seemed to find this remark extremely humorous.

"What's so funny?" Satoshi demanded. A part of him wanted to crawl and hide in embarrassment, but the alcohol did a sufficiently good job of dulling it. Dark continued to laugh and just shook his head. Sulking slightly at being treated like a child, Satoshi refilled his tankard and took another large swallow. Ale wasn't so bad, he thought.

Dark finally stopped laughing long enough to tell him. "I think you've had enough," the purple-haired man sad as he tried to tug the drinking vessel out of the younger man's hands.

"Are you saying I'm drunk?"

The actor gulped. He had never seen Satoshi quite like this before; it appeared as though he would be an aggressive drunk. Well, what was it his mother used to say? Oh yes; it was always the quiet ones you had to watch out for. "Of course not," he said cheerily. "But surely you wouldn't prefer to stop and watch the twins? I don't think you've ever seen them perform, have you?"

Satoshi watched the twins sing and dance for a while before turning to Dark. The effects of the alcohol had not completely worn off yet; much to the older man's dismay. "Why does Risa always grab my arm and giggle when she sees me?" Those cool blue eyes fixed on him with the kind of intensity that only a drunken person could muster, and Dark gave the other a weak smile in reply. At another time, perhaps, this question would have amused him to no end. _Call it age,_ he thought wryly. All he wanted to do now was to make sure that the musician did not wake up the next morning with a hangover; it was market day tomorrow, and everyone would have to be on top form if they were to recover some of the money spent in the inn; a few performances would undoubtedly not be enough to cover the debt they had racked up tonight.

"I'll tell you if you stop drinking."

"Fine! See if I care." With a petulant glare on his face, Satoshi turned around and joined in Duo's boisterous conversation with a few of the other patrons at the inn. Dark rolled his eyes – Krad was right, kids were a pain – and was about to walk over to the innkeeper to see if they could drive the price down a little more when a snatch of conversation from the dice table flew by his ear.

"Here, wanna try some?" Dark whipped around and saw Duo holding his cup to Satoshi's mouth. Likelier than not, the actor knew, it contained spirits rather than just ale, and in the blue-eyed musician's state it would likely knock him out. He was about to stop them when Satoshi took a large gulp and coughed, obviously not used to the burn.

"Are you going to stop him?" It was Krad. Dark glared and shrugged.

"He's old enough, he can make his own decisions." For some reason, the other blond's presence always riled him up. "I'm not his father." In fact, now that the other man had shown up, Dark was more than happy to let Satoshi drink himself into a stupor. Quatre and Trowa, and likely Heero all believed that his reaction to the blond was somewhat irrational and rather childish, but quite frankly he didn't care. He chanced a quick look back and silently cheered when he saw one of the pretty serving girls refill Satoshi's cup with the much stronger liquor. The young musician did not hesitate, much to Dark's joy; he immediately tossed it back as though he had done so his entire life. Krad made a sound of disapproval behind him, and Dark beamed.

Dark was just about to reveal his hand when there was a sudden crash and raucous laughter filled the air. He turned to see that Satoshi, much to the amusement of everyone else, had finally passed out and fallen off his chair. An extremely drunk Duo was now attempting to carry him, aided by a not-much-more-sober Quatre. The two men staggered and wobbled like a pair of fools and Dark sighed; there would be hell to pay now. Krad crossed the room in two quick strides and one swift movement, flung the comatose youth over his shoulder. "Would you happen to have a room?" He coolly asked the innkeeper's wife. Awed by this display of strength, she immediately showed him up to a small but comfortable room, where the blond left his burden. The troupe of performers was thus forced to stay in the inn for the night, sleeping in the stables and attic. The twins, on the other hand, were allowed to stay in the kitchen because the innkeeper's wife interceded on their behalf.

The crowning glory of the night came when Satoshi, finally feeling the effects of all the alcohol he had imbibed, woke up feeling very sick indeed. He managed to throw up over the side of the bed, but most unfortunately this was where Wufei's blankets had been placed. The dark man was, needless to say, utterly disgusted, and risked walking to the river alone in the dead of night to wash the vomit off his clothes. Satoshi was not so lucky; still woozy from the drink, he threw up once more early in the morning and promptly fell into a drunken sleep, with evidence of his night's activities still on his clothing.

**Next morning:**

"Get the hell up."

Satoshi slowly cracked his eyes open, suddenly all-too aware of the throbbing pain in his head. At first, he thought that a thief had struck him over the head repeatedly with a stout wooden stick, and then he became aware of the stale, bitter smell in the room. The bright sunshine struck his eyes with unprecedented force and he hastily shut them again, wanting desperately to turn over but knowing that to move in his current state would likely result in agony.

"Get _up_, damn you!" A pair of hands seized him and hauled him out of the bed.

"Wufei?" He managed to whisper. "Please, don't—"

He was forcibly dragged up, aggravating the battle going on in his head, and the sunshine burned his eyes once more. "You and I are going down to the river. You will wash yourself, and your clothing, and we will then return here. Now, for the love of all that's good and holy, stand up!" Satoshi barely managed to keep himself from falling over by immediately grabbing the other performer. His knees felt like water, his entire body ached and the pain in his head made him almost want to collapse and whimper in agony. "Eat this." Something was shoved into his mouth and he forced himself to chew slowly, again taking heed of the drumbeat mercilessly pounding in his head. "Let's _go._" Step by painful step, Satoshi Hiwatari made his way down to the little river and forced himself to wash in cool water. _What happened to me last night?_ The last thing he remembered was sitting next to Duo and trying that strong drink; something the braided man had called _shaiden_.

**At the inn:**

Krad glared at the troupe, all of them a rather pitiful sight as they nursed hangovers. None of them would be making much money today; well, none of them save for Riku and Risa. The twins were already gone by the time he had woken up; they were likely already performing on a street corner somewhere. "I hope you enjoyed yourselves last night," he dryly said, "because that will be the last time any of us gets a decent bed to sleep in." Dark was about to temper this statement, but was cut off by the blond. "Now, I suggest you quickly find a way to get rid of those nasty, nasty headaches, because," he grinned evilly, "we're going to be performing at this inn tonight to repay our hosts' many kindnesses." A collective sort-of moan rose from the little huddle of people and then they scattered, some returning to their rooms and others merely collapsing on the hard wooden benches.

"Ah, wait," Dark called. Everyone groaned collectively once more. "Anyone seen Satoshi or Wufei this morning?" The question went unanswered and Krad rolled his eyes once more.

"This is all your fault," the blond growled quietly at the other man. Dark ignored him and went to check on the troupe, just to make sure that they would be fully recovered by noon.

**Satoshi and Wufei:**

Satoshi decided that sunny morning that he would never, ever drink to excess ever again. The pain simply wasn't worth it; why did people like to do this regularly? He remembered what the castle was like the night after a large party; the entire place would be quieter than usual, and some of the castle servants would look distinctly more exhausted than usual. "What happened last night?" He managed to ask. The other shot him a withering look.

"You drank too much."

The blue-haired youth stared up at the other. Was this really the same, intelligent man he had discussed literature with last night? Wufei had seemed much more approachable then; was that also an effect of the alcohol? Still trying to ignore the savage thump of drums and tambourines inside his head, the blue-haired youth carefully got out of the river and looked around for a place where he could change without being seen. "Just do it already," the other growled. "It's nothing I haven't seen before." Satoshi saw a small bundle of dry, clean clothing close to where he'd placed his wet ones and realised that the dark-haired man had brought fresh clothing as well. He looked gratefully at Wufei, but the other appeared to have spotted something interesting in the other direction. Satoshi frowned and hastily pulled on the tunic and hose. When he picked up the light cloak, something yellow rolled out. He carefully reached down and picked it up.

"What's this?" Dark eyes glanced peremptorily his way and Wufei shrugged.

"A banana."

Satoshi felt a little better from his cool bath, but some parts of his mind were still trying to pull themselves together. He looked at the yellow…thing in his hand dubiously, wondering how to eat it. Were you supposed to just put the whole thing in your mouth or peel it? What was it like on the inside? He looked up at Wufei, feeling a hot blush cover his face at having to ask what was obviously such a stupid question. "How do you…?" Wufei stared at him until he looked away, then walked over. Yanking the yellow fruit away, the dark-haired performer snapped the top briskly and peeled the yellow skin away in strips.

Still slightly embarrassed that he could not have figured it out himself, the young prince gratefully took the fruit and began to eat. It had a slightly mushy texture, but was still quite sweet. "It's good for your headache." The blue-haired youth glanced up in surprise and winced as the sun hit him full in the eyes.

"Thank you." They quietly made their way back to the inn.

When they got back to the inn, they found the rest of the troupe cleaning up the place. They were, Wufei noted, in better shape than they had been in the morning. Of course, he had no intention of working the tab off; the only reason they were doing this in the first place was because of Dark's insistence that they all celebrate Satoshi's 'deflowering'. He just barely bit back a snort of derision; trust that idiot to come up with such a crude term for someone's first street performance. Well, thank goodness the boy turned out to be some good, because an extra, useless mouth to feed would have resulted in chaos. Then again, knowing how soft Quatre was, they would have probably still let him stay.

"Wufei. Satoshi." Krad walked over, looking none-too-pleased. The reason for his displeasure was evident; the stains on his sleeves pointed to an hour spent raking out the cold ashes, and the grease on his clothing indicated that he had not too long ago come into contact with what was likely leftover roast meat. Krad was likely the pickiest member of the group, even more so than the two girls. "Where have you been?" Still suffering slightly from the previous night, Satoshi winced as the blond's voice seared through his brain.

Wufei took the chance to answer. "I took him down to the river to clean up. My deepest apologies if you needed him for anything."

"Ah. Well, since you're both back and clearly in better shape than some of us—" At this his mouth twisted in a wry mix of amusement and slight distaste—"you can go talk to the innkeepers about work. We perform here tonight."

By noon, Satoshi fully understood why the castle maids had complained so about scrubbing an entire corridor. His shoulders and back ached from bending over so much, and if his knees were not bruised by now they soon would be. He shifted uncomfortably and scrubbed at a particularly stubborn spot on the floor, not liking its ugly grey colour or the way it clung so desperately to the floor. "Hey, Satoshi. I never thought you'd be so good at dice…or like _shaiden_ so much!"

He felt slightly sick at the mere mention of the drink. "I don't want to talk about it." He was proud of how steady his voice was in spite of the late night and all the excitement. "Thank you for…everything though." Duo waved the last part off.

"No, seriously. Did you like the _shaiden_? How did you get so good at dice?" Dice? What dice? Satoshi did not remember touching any dice at all.

"What?" He whispered. "I…was playing dice last night?" Duo laughed.

"Good grief, just how much did you have to drink?" At the look of sheer embarrassment on the other's face, Duo whistled and clapped the other on the back with one soapy hand. "Well, it was your party. And if the man of the hour can't get drunk, who can?" He threw back his head and laughed, which in turn made Satoshi wonder how the braided boy could recover so quickly.

"Get back to work!" Both young men hastily ducked down and began to scrub the floor once more, with Duo shooting a mischievous look at Satoshi as he contorted his face to imitate the innkeeper's. The blue-haired youth was suddenly very thankful for his ability to hide amusement; he was sure that the innkeeper would not appreciate knowing exactly what Duo thought he looked like.

The rest of the day passed quietly, with Satoshi learning how to clean windows and tables for the first time in his life. When Quatre curiously asked if he had ever done so before, Satoshi found himself unable to answer the question honestly. Thankfully, the blond appeared to understand and had left him alone after a few hastily given instructions on how to quickly get rid of stubborn stains. After that day, the young prince silently swore to himself that should he ever be fortunate enough to have his own house, he would never spill food or drink on it; he understood the servants' plight all too well now. Dark and Duo, meanwhile seemed determined to cheer everyone up by singing and telling jokes as they worked. However, their efforts were thwarted by the other actors' silent stoicism. Satoshi had always been under the impression that street performers were always happy and carefree, with the way they told their tales, but he knew better now; it was all an act. After what felt like the hundredth joke about a camel's hump, Krad finally snapped. "Shut the hell up." He growled as he flicked a duster across the windowsill, wiping up anything that might have been left on it with a grimy rag. After that, the only sound in the inn was the sound of cloth swishing across wooden surfaces, and the occasional rustle as someone made their way across the room.

"Hey, Satoshi." He wearily looked up at Duo, wondering how he had managed to get stuck cleaning the place with the talkative performer. So far, the braided man had managed to keep himself sufficiently entertained by making up little plays for the cleaning tools in his hands; namely a basin and a cloth. He had also recited so many stories about the rest of the troupe that Satoshi was sure that he would never be able to look Heero in the eye without recalling his temporary stint as a young woman or Krad as an incorrigible womaniser. Then again, it was better than being forced to make conversation. He knew that he was nowhere near as interesting or lively as Duo was; he had never seen a tsunami come and sweep away an entire island. He knew nothing of grand underwater palaces, ruled by creatures that were half-fish and half-man, or birds that lived on mountain tops and were big enough to carry off sheep. He could not tell a story to save his life, nor recall any interesting incidents that would make someone laugh. "Do you want to learn how to tightrope-walk?" Startled at this abrupt question, he nearly dropped the broom and flushed at how clumsy he was.

"Not really." A little voice whispered that he should try it, just to see what it was like. Perhaps he'd find that he was actually a prodigy at it. He ruthlessly pushed it away. He was Satoshi Hiwatari. It was a miracle that he'd been able to learn the drum so quickly already. Besides, he wasn't really here to become a performer. He was just tagging along until they reached the borderlands. Then he'd leave, and things would return to the way they were.

"Why not?" The other pouted, leaning on his mop to rest.

"I…I'm not very good at balancing. I'm clumsy."

Duo looked thoughtfully out of the window. "I bet you'd pick it up really quickly. You're not clumsy at all. You didn't fall over when you had to dance with the drum." Satoshi shook his head again. Why wouldn't Duo just leave him alone?

"No."

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"No." Unbidden, Satoshi's mind flashed back to when he had still been very young, and he had been playing with some other children at his party. They had decided to climb a tall apple tree 'to see what was beyond the castle walls'. Afraid of falling and breaking the rules, Satoshi had refused to do so. The other children had taunted him until he'd finally snapped, and tried to climb up. He had immediately slipped back down, and the others had laughed at him even as tears stung in his eyes. The troupe could think he was good for nothing but playing the drums, but he refused to climb ever again. It was too dangerous, and he did not want to humiliate himself again.

"I really don't understand why you keep thinking you're bad at something even though you've never tried it."

"It's dangerous." As the words slipped out of his mouth, the whole idea suddenly began to seem childish and embarrassing. After all, he had escape from the palace with an angry horde and an entire army on his tail. He'd slipped out of his cousin's palace with the intention of travelling, on foot and alone, back home to chase after something that he'd heard from a mirror, of all things, and he'd survived losing his money not one day after arriving in Ginka. As though sensing his thoughts, Duo beamed at him.

"Well, it's not so bad. We'll catch you if you fall." _Even more incentive to stay on that rope,_ Satoshi thought wryly. He highly doubted any of the others would even notice should he slip. They'd likely think it was part of the act until he became a bloody mess on the ground. "So, you in?"

Satoshi could not believe his own ears. "Yeah. Why not?"

"YOU TWO! Stop loitering!" In a swirl of muddy, soapy water, the two hastily got back to work before the inn opened for business. As he scrubbed the floors, the blue-eyed prince felt a small tingle in the pit of his stomach at the thought of learned to walk on a tightrope, and for the first time in his life he realised that it was excitement. Repressing a small smile lest the innkeeper's wife think he was laughing at her, he returned to the bucket for a fresh helping of water.

**Khael Palace:**

"Your Highness, I think this solution would be the most effective in restoring peace to the kingdom."

Tired golden eyes glanced from one minister to the next. "What do you say, Shuuei?"

The young man hesitated slightly. "Sire, perhaps it would be best to exercise caution; after all, we do not even know whether—"

"The time for thoughts is past! What is most needed now is to prevent the former Hiwatari kingdom from tearing itself apart! The quickest way to do so is either to conquer, or to locate the prince and put him back on the throne!"

The room dissolved into chaos and finally Ryuuki could stand it no longer. "Silence, all of you! Silence!" The noise slowly ebbed away as all the officials turned to look at the Emperor. With a great sigh, Shi Ryuuki made his decision. "As Emperor Shi Ryuuki of the Khael Empire, I formally declare war upon the Hiwatari Kingdom." A great cry rose from all the ministers; some bowed their heads in dismay and groaned whilst others immediately began making plans for battle. "Should anyone hear so much as a _whisper_ of our royal cousin, Prince Satoshi Hiwatari, you will immediately investigate and report your findings. You are dismissed."

When the Emperor returned to his chambers that night, he collapsed on the bed. He only hoped that this war would unite the Hiwatari kingdom until his cousin decided to reappear and claim the throne. "Ryuuki, are you sure this is wise?" It was Shouka, with Reishin at his side. "The country is still in chaos—"

"We need to prevent the civil war from spreading to our borders. Already we have lost much trade to rebels and bandits. I will not have this country ruined from a war that is not even ours to begin with. Good night." Seeing that there was nothing more to be done, the pair left the room.

* * *

As a result of an overwhelming work load and an extremely hectic life, I am sorry to announce that I will have to give up a number of stories. Although I will continue to write Rapunzel's Prince myself, I am giving up some fics for 'adoption', so to speak. For more information, please see my homepage on , and if you would like to take on any of them please send me a PM/e-mail and we'll work out the details from there. Thank you for supporting me, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

trichloroethane


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Disclaimer: I do not own DN Angel.

Warnings: None that you haven't already seen.

* * *

The word spread through Khael like wildfire – they were riding to war! And war with the Hiwatari kingdom, no less; the same kingdom with which Khael had been lifelong allies. Messengers were dispatched from the royal palace with messages to be carried to each and every city, town or village with able-bodied young men. Mothers mourned the impending loss of their sons, wives their husbands. Only the children were blissfully unaware of what was to come; all they knew was that Father had been summoned to become a soldier, a noble hero who would surely perform great deeds of bravery in the midst of battle.

It was the fourth day of the second week since their arrival in Ginka when the emperor's messenger arrived. "Hear ye, hear ye!" He cried out in a strong voice in the city square. "By decree of the Emperor of Khael, his most revered Majesty, Protector of the Khael Empire and the Eastern Deserts Shi Ryuuki, we are at war with the Hiwatari Kingdom! All able-bodied men shall report to the city barracks by tomorrow morning, no later than noon. The Emperor calls on you to serve your country, and ride to war to protect the Empire which has sheltered and cared for you! Anyone who fails to report shall be punished severely, for failure to obey the Emperor, may he live forever, is failure to serve the realm."

Satoshi could barely keep himself from reeling back with shock. Ryuuki had declared war on the Hiwatari kingdom? How could this be? Surely his cousin would not think of going against his wishes? "Are you all right?" Blinking the black dots that had suddenly gathered in front of his eyes away, he turned to see Quatre looking at him in concern.

"Ah…nothing." Those large blue eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, but then the blond shrugged and turned away. Satoshi looked at the messenger once more before walking away. _I can't fool around anymore, _he thought suddenly. _I _have_ to get to the border before Ryuuki's troops arrive._ Then Heero spoke. "Best stay away from the borderlands then." He felt someone's eyes rest on the back of his head, and he forced himself not to shift. There was no point in letting them find out who he really was, not before they arrived at the border. He only hoped that the announcement of war would provide the troupe with additional incentive to entertain the soldiers.

Later that night, he made his way to Dark's tent, hoping that the other had not already forgotten why Satoshi was travelling with them for the time being. "Dark?" The purple-haired man shot him a wide grin, tossing aside the torn costume in favour of what appeared to be a more entertaining pastime.

"Satoshi! I'm glad to see you're settling in. Good performance!" A small glow spread in his heart at the praise; he did not think Dark had any reason to lie to him.

"About going to the Hiwatari kingdom…"

"Oh, that." The amethyst-eyed man flapped a hand at him. "Of course…where was it you wanted to go again?"

"The Hiwatari Kingdom. Or at least, to the border." Dark stared at him intensely and Satoshi shifted, feeling slightly uneasy. What if Dark just kicked him out right here, right now?

"Huh." The older man shifted and the sheets rustled. "You really were being serious. I'll be damned."

"What are you talking about?" Now Satoshi was sure that something was wrong. Even back at the palace, when he had begged for permission to return to his homeland, the nobles had not reacted in such a way. The actor stared at him disbelievingly.

"It's been news for a while," he finally said. "When you mentioned the borderlands, I thought you were just addled from the heat, or trying to find your way to a place close by. I didn't actually believe that you intended to get to the Hiwatari kingdom."

"Why not?"

The other fidgeted – the first sign of uneasiness he'd seen in the man – before clearly making up his mind. "There's no such thing. At least, not any more." Catching the incredulous look on Satoshi's face, he snorted. "Good grief boy, where did you live? Under a rock? Everyone knows the Hiwatari Kingdom's little more than a piece of war-torn land."

"W-what? That's impossible! Ryuuki—" He froze in horror but forced himself to continue anyway. "My cousin – he told me that the kingdom was still standing, but torn by civil war!"

At the sharp look on Dark's face, Satoshi knew that he had said too much. "Ryuuki? The same name as our esteemed Emperor?"

"He – he was named for the Emperor." The blue-haired prince immediately said.

"Oh? That's an interesting choice. Did your parents not know of Shi Ryuuki's…illustrious background?"

"Only that he was the Emperor-to-be," Satoshi said defiantly. Dark chuckled.

"Very well then." The man heaved a great sigh of resignation. "Looks like we'll have some soldiers to entertain." He flashed a grin at Satoshi. "The twins will hate you. Soldiers tend to have hands with their own minds, so to speak." Knowing that this was the most he would get out of the actor, Satoshi bowed and left.

Dark watched the tent flap swing closed and then frowned. It was clear that the boy was lying through his teeth, but why? Was Satoshi some kind of noble-born boy who had run away from his family? That would certainly explain his insistence on a mask and bulky robes at first. What if he was the Emperor's cousin, for whom the entire palace had been searching for so desperately? The purple-haired man threw back his head and laughed. The very idea was ridiculous! As if a relative of the Emperor would ever seek to leave the palace and a life of luxury behind, only to toil alongside a group of barely-sociable actors. Still snickering to himself, he decided to at some point start asking about possible routes to the border. He apparently had a fool's promise to keep.

When he announced that they would be taking the main road to the Hiwatari kingdom, he was greeted by stunned silence. Even Trowa looked astonished. "We may as well earn good money entertaining the armies," Dark pointed out. "And it's a main road. There will be plenty of food and shelter, I'll warrant."

Krad abruptly stood up. "I need to talk to you." He said briskly. The other actor shrugged and the pair left.

"Well," Riku said suddenly, "I guess we'd better get some food from the market. The fishwife at Ryuuzaki's told me that Tsuzuki's is having a summer vegetable sale. We'd better hurry before everything sells out." Risa jumped up immediately.

"Ah," the younger twin paused, "We need a man to help us carry all of those things. Satoshi, would you come with us please?" A small ripple of laughter ran around the group as the blue-haired youth blushed and stood up. "Thank you!" The girl chirped brightly before grabbing his hand and tugging him towards where Riku waited for them.

No wonder everyone had laughed, Satoshi thought as Risa placed yet another basket of straw mushrooms atop the teetering pile of food he carried. "Hey, is there anything else we should put into the stew for tonight?"

As Risa immediately danced over to a pile of turnips, Satoshi caught a glimpse of red out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see who – or what it was – but still could not make it out. "Are you the one who came by my father's store?" Shocked that someone could have sneaked up on him so easily, it took everything the musician had not to drop the entire pile of food.

"Ah…um, you," he managed weakly. It would have been rude to shout, he knew. The memory of their last encounter returned in full force and he sincerely hoped that the other did not say anything. The young man smiled beatifically once again and had Satoshi not seen him selling herbal remedies, he would have immediately assumed the other to be a monk of some holy order.

"Indeed." Those odd eyes flickered sideways towards the twins, and Satoshi was suddenly overcome by an urge to protect them from the storekeeper.

"I don't know who you are," his own voice sounded harsh in his ears, "and I really don't care who you are. But don't bother me again."

"Well, that is a shame," the redhead remarked. "I would have told you about rapunzel. Or more correctly, _your_ Rapunzel."

When he had first started out on this journey, all Satoshi knew was that rapunzel was a type of plant. He knew that it was likely to be near a tall tower, but his father's kingdom; _former_ kingdom, he harshly reminded himself, had quite a number of tall towers. A wry smile twisted his lips. Perhaps he should wait for Ryuuki's forces to sweep the country first; any remaining towers would be easy to find after the pillaging and looting was done. "My Rapunzel?" He asked the other warily.

That brilliant smile appeared once more and Satoshi briefly wondered whether this man was one of the strange creatures that his nurse used to tell him stories about. What were they called? Oh yes. Angels. "Certainly. Your Rapunzel."

Making a decision on the spot, Satoshi carefully put the pile of food down next to Risa and mumbled something about needing to relieve himself before following the other. He could not miss another chance to find out more about the elusive name. Surely the mirror would not send him on a quest to find some rare vegetable that only grew back home? He thought of the tower, and the darkness that had followed. What did those other things mean? Were they some sort of warning, or omen? The other man turned every so often to smile at him, and soon Satoshi knew that he was well in the depths of the city. This was nowhere near the markets he had visited during his resting time, and he doubted very much whether he would be able to make it out by himself. As though sensing his thoughts, the redheaded man in front of him murmured, "Don't worry; I'll make sure you get back safely." There was no other choice, the blue-eyed youth thought. He only hoped that the actors would not leave him behind when they moved on.

"I suppose you don't remember my name?" Satoshi absently stared at the cup of tea in front of him.

"Aidan," he replied almost defiantly. He felt as though the other was constantly amused by whatever he did, and he just barely managed to keep the scowl off his face. Back at home, and even in the Khael Palace, no one had ever made him feel young or inexperienced. Here, though…it was as though everyone saw him as just a child trying to act like a grown-up, and failing miserably.

The other man beamed. "You remembered." Satoshi gave him a half-shrug. "About Rapunzel…it is a vegetable. It looks like a lettuce, but has purple-tinged leaves and grows in marshy areas. It flourishes best when nurtured carefully in gardens, but is very hard to cultivate. You can always tell wild-grown rapunzel from farmed ones; the purple in the wild ones will be slightly darker around the edge and taste slightly bitter, a little like chicory. Home-grown ones are generally sweeter to the taste. Rapunzel is a very versatile vegetable indeed…it is good for garnishes and salads; when mixed with French vinaigrette, for example, it makes a particularly tasty dish. It also has healing properties; any herbalist will tell you that it is a good wrapping for poultices, cooling bruises and other hurts very rapidly. It's one of the best cures for a cough; eat a few leaves and it soothes your throat instantly. Finally, it also does your stomach good; it's mild enough to eat even when you're feeling queasy or seasick. There have also been reports of its curing poisoned victims; if enough is ingested, it causes vomiting but will not kill." Satoshi did not know how to respond to this information; all he knew was that it was not what he was looking for. Nevertheless, he could not help but look at the monk with a newfound respect; he had obviously devoted much of his time to learning about the healing properties of plants.

"Thank you," Satoshi replied stiffly, hoping that he would still have time to return to Riku before it grew dark. "I…shall remember that."

"But rapunzel is not only the name of a most useful herb; it is also the name of a young man. Or so the stories say." Satoshi inhaled sharply. Was this the person whom he had sought since that fateful day in front of the mirror?

"It is said that his mother, when she was with child, craved rapunzel from a garden next to hers. Unfortunately, the garden belonged to a jealous witch, who guarded her plants carefully lest someone try to steal them. The wife would sit at the window of the kitchen every day, never saying a word but it was clear that she wanted the rapunzel. Distraught by his wife's cravings, the husband climbed over the fence separating the two gardens one night and stole a basketful of rapunzel. The witch caught him, but instead of punishing him like all the other trespassers before him, she offered him a deal: as much rapunzel as his wife wanted in exchange for the life of his firstborn child. Frightened out of his wits and at a loss, the husband agreed, and his wife soon gave birth to a healthy baby. The witch claimed her debt and named the boy Rapunzel. Then she took him away and locked him in a tower to keep him from leaving, and to keep his parents from finding him."

Satoshi said nothing; his mind was too busy whirling with the information. Rapunzel was a person? A boy, nonetheless. Was the mirror telling him to go rescue Rapunzel? "Is there any more to hear?" He asked, leaning forward and forgetting himself momentarily.

"Well, the tower only appears to those who are truly lost," the herbalist says. "Naturally, it never appears more than once to the same person."

Satoshi swallowed hard. "So…I have to be lost in order to find the tower?" Aidan shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not. It's just a children's story." As though sensing the sudden restlessness of his audience, the redhead smiled once more and stood up, picking up a small packet of what looked to be herbs off the worktable. "You should probably get back to your friends now," he told the blue-haired man with a slight smile. "They're very worried about you." Feeling relieved, Satoshi stood up and thanked the other profusely.

"Thank you so much for your, um, time," he says. "I hope I wasn't, um, too much of a bother." He does not understand why he is stammering now; perhaps it is because he was earlier faced with evidence of Aidan's intelligence and the fact that he knew about a person named Rapunzel as well as the plant. He blinked at the small cloth-wrapped packet that the man had at some point gently slipped into his hand.

"A little mixture to help you sleep better," Aidan told him with a smile. "You'll be glad to have it soon."

Satoshi does not know what to say. The physicians back home, all six of them, only agreed on one thing: that herbal remedies never worked. They scoffed incessantly at the kitchen maids, who would inevitably show up after a day at market with some new concoction 'guaranteed to cure boils' or some such nonsense, and until today Satoshi had been perfectly content to agree with the physicians. On the other hand, it would be rude not to accept such a gift, especially when he knew that herbalists could not make much money from their craft; poor folk would only pay so much for a love potion.

"Take it," the other offered, white teeth flashing dimly in the shop. "I have plenty of these for everyone, and my trade is not as…ill-funded as you appear to think." Ashamed, the blue-haired prince took the small sachet and hastily shoved it into the pocket of his tunic. "Place it under your pillow," the other continued easily. "If you feel it does not work, there is nothing to stop you from disposing of it." Satoshi slowly nodded and thanked the other once more before leaving, feeling strangely lightheaded as he stepped outside into dusk. Once he was well on his way to camp, Satoshi's fingers flew to the pocket where he had stored the sachet, taking it out and turning it over to look for any identifying marks. He slowly replaced the object and continued on his way to camp, bracing himself for Riku's wrath.

He was not disappointed. Upon making himself known, the entire camp came running to make sure that he was all right. As soon as it was established that he was unharmed, most members simply returned to their given tasks, although Wufei muttered something about 'hare-brained idiots' and Riku insisted on telling him that she would have willingly resurrected him just to kill him again if he had been found murdered. Dark simply chuckled and told him that he would not have been the first person to wander off on account of a pretty girl.

As he pulled his tunic over his head later that night, Satoshi felt something fall to the ground. Bending over and squinting at the ground, he managed to locate a small square shape and instantly remembered the sachet that Aidan had given him earlier. Carefully brushing it off and feeling rather foolish, he slipped the small packet under his pillow and crawled into his bedroll, mind still going over the information he had just learned.

The next morning came all too soon, but his tiredness seemed to vanish quicker than usual. Satoshi knew that he was normally slow to wake on account of some imbalance of his humours, but either Aidan had given him something that actually worked or his belief had done the trick itself. Either way, he felt much more refreshed than he ever had. The change did not come unnoticed; even Krad went so far as to ask if he should allow all his troupe members to run away whenever they felt like it, if the results were so clearly beneficial. Satoshi flushed to the roots of his hair, prompting yet another round of teasing and he finally managed to slip away under the pretext of getting his costume. This quiet exit was duly noted by Duo, who spent another fifteen minutes waggling his eyebrows and asking what he really did when he snuck off. Not knowing how to answer and feeling a little off balance, the blue-haired youth grabbed a costume off a rack and walked away, hoping that the braided performer would ignore him. No such luck.

"He's no fun at all," Duo pouts when they return. Heero simply rolls his eyes and goes back to repairing one of the tassels on the hand-drums they use so often. "He won't even tell me her name."

"No one bandies a lady's name about and expects to get away with it." Satoshi blinks at what just came out of his mouth, blinking when Duo grins and claps him on the back.

"Good to see you out of your shell, kid," the performer laughs before wandering over to Heero. Satoshi paused for a moment, wondering if everyone saw him the same way. Was he really that unapproachable?

As though the fates were trying to provide him with an answer, he found that the rest of the troupe was more willing to talk to him. It was as though a barrier had been lifted, and he was now one of the core members of the group. Even if he still did not understand why Quatre flushed bright red at the sight of an old wooden flute, or how Wufei came to know bits of old poetry that he claims were written a hundred years ago, he was a part of the team. It was rather nice, he thought. Even though he still stammered occasionally when Heero fixes him with that unwavering blue stare and holds out a set of bells or a tambourine, and Duo still irritated him now and again, Satoshi realized that he was happy. He felt like he belonged, rather than just being an extra person travelling with them temporarily. It is only when the terrain starts becoming rockier and more shrubs spring up that he realizes that they are approaching the old Hiwatari borders.

Their first audience at the border is for a group of bored soldiers, as the dice and cups will testify. At first, they are wary and even outright hostile, but with a few of Dark's 'magic tricks' which mainly consist of seemingly pulling various small objects out of the air, the men settle down to watch and by the end of it the battered hat which they normally pass around is heavy and jingles nicely. Krad takes them out for dumplings that night.

Satoshi starts to become a little restless on the fourth night, feeling as though he's so close and yet so far. He's busy keeping a beat as usual, painted mask settled firmly over his features because with the army this close, he can never be sure if Ran Shuuei is around, or whether word will get to him of a blue-haired performer. His hair colour is not common, even for the Western kingdoms, and it would almost certainly generate a great deal of interest. He absentmindedly raises the beat to a crescendo, drumming rapidly as Duo leaps off the wire and somersaults on his way down, landing as lightly as a cat. The man bows and the soldiers clap appreciatively, all of them laughing from the group's antics. On the sidelines, Krad beams and Satoshi can just tell that in spite of having to keep the girls well guarded and being very close to a war zone, they must all be earning at least twice as much as they had been in Ginka. Before he goes to sleep, he wonders what all his old nurses and tutors would say if they could see him now.

Dark calls him into his tent the next night, those purple eyes now completely devoid of mischief and almost as unreadable as Trowa generally is. "You know you can leave at any time now, right?" It's a serious question, and Satoshi realizes with a pang that leaving would not be as easy as he originally thought. He likes the team, to some extent, and he's already lost enough allies as it is. A small part of him swallows at the thought of having to be alone again, and having to earn money through what little he has learned during his time with the street performers. It won't do to have Dark pick up on that though; he still wants to find Rapunzel, and the mirror still influences him as strongly now as it did back then in the dusty storeroom of the Khael Palace.

There is no sign that Dark feels anything other than resignation. "Just tell us before you leave, all right? Otherwise the girls will have my head. I'm sure Quatre will want to say something to you too, knowing him." Satoshi nods quietly, unsure of what to say in response. The older man sighs. "You know, it was good to have you around. Did you learn anything?" Satoshi is at first tempted to reply that he will never again comment on a soldier's attire, but catches himself in time to prevent anything facetious from slipping out.

"I did. Thank you." He does not know what else to say, but feels that Dark will understand. The purple-haired man is more perceptive than he lets on, and saying too much would just unnecessarily lengthen this talk.

"Good. I think you did too." Satoshi is about to leave when Dark stops him again. "Just so you know, if you don't find what you're looking for, or you need money…we'll still be here. Likely until the war ends." He almost chokes up at this, and nods, hoping that his voice will not crack like some youngster about to enter manhood.

"Good luck." Satoshi recognizes the dismissal and leaves, heart heavier than it was when he entered the tent. He does not know what it means and once more gets into his bedroll, the small sachet a comforting lump under his head.

The next day is windy with smatterings of rain every now and again, which puts everyone in a miserable mood. The troupe has to resort to less dangerous tricks, since everyone knows that wire-walking in the rain has a tendency to lead to accidents, and even the soldiers are less friendly today, cold and huddled together for warmth as they are. Nevertheless, they soldier on and continue to perform, even when Trowa, normally so graceful, slips in the soft ground and gets up slathered in mud. Quatre rushes to his aid, but is stayed only by the sharp look he receives from the rest of the team. The mistake immediately costs them at least a few coppers, but Satoshi honestly cannot blame anyone for it; accidents happen, and the weather is making everyone particularly uncooperative. The day continues like this and after the tenth time they have to interrupt the story of the weaver maiden and her cowherd lover to keep their costumes from being blown away, the soldiers mutter ominously and begin to leave. Krad calls off the entire thing after they conclude their tale, and the performers return to where they set up camp previously.

Huddled inside his tent, Satoshi borrows one of Wufei's books and goes through it, glad for once to be able to read a book in peace. It is not his turn to cook tonight, thankfully, and it is unlikely that anyone will be coming to disturb him. _It's been a long time,_ he thinks as he immerses himself in a completely foreign world and culture. He does not realize that the restlessness haunting him only that morning is now completely gone.

The next morning, the troupe wakes to find their equipment smashed and stolen. The cart is damaged beyond repair, leaning crazily to one side because of the smashed wheels, and the horse is gone. Their costumes are conspicuously missing and Trowa guesses that they have been taken to be remade into other things; cloth is a valuable asset here. Pots and pans are scattered over the ground, and it is just lucky that the soldiers did not think to take any captives. Duo growls that they must have been common petty thieves; only those would ever think of not waking the people inside the tents up. In any case, they are now all stranded at the border between Khael and the Hiwatari kingdom with five tents and the clothes on their banks without a penny between them. Krad wants to continue performing and earn a little through acrobatics, storytelling and the like, whilst Quatre wants to return to Ginka. Duo is all for stealing the equipment from the army, but is reminded that 'he is no longer a thief, and will not act as such.' He glares and mutters, but says nothing when the troupe finally agrees to earn a little more before returning to Ginka. After all, if they do not have money, it is unlikely that they will be able to eat anyway, and it is a long way back to the city. Satoshi decides to stay on until they leave, not wanting to abandon them during their time of difficulty.

They work harder than ever for the next few days, even composing an impromptu cheer for the army as it prepares for battle once more. The men's spirits seem to be diminishing by the day; it is unclear whose men are fighting at the border, but Satoshi does not recognize the livery when he sees it; no lord his father ever had at court had used a red eagle on a black background. "It's the emblem of House Tarragon," Quatre says later when Heero asks. "They've been quiet for the last few years, preferring domestic matters to…international conflict."

Krad adds his opinion, a rarity when it is not related to the troupe directly. "They must not be very powerful then," he comments dryly. "Only Houses looking to prove themselves stay within the borders of their own countries. They know that foreign houses won't look at them until they gain some standing. Are you sure they've been around long enough to even gain a genuine coat of arms?" There is some snickering at this, but Satoshi frowns a little. If even small Houses were crawling out of the woodwork and fighting the Khael army, what did it mean for the kingdom as a whole? Was it in complete disarray, plundered and no longer a place of peace and prosperity? Or was it ruled by some warlord with an iron fist, who'd schemed his way to the top? None of the Councillors were alive or well enough to gather an army this powerful, and if the Khael army has not yet proceeded further into his father's kingdom at all they must be a substantial force.

"I hear they have made an alliance of sorts." Quatre coolly replied. Satoshi wanted to frown, but did not dare; as far as anyone knew, he was merely an unlucky youth who had run away from home and lost his purse to pickpockets on his very first day out in the streets.

Feigning disinterest in the topic, the prince leaned over. "With whom?" He asked casually.

The blond shrugged in reply. "I think it was a name beginning with a 'C', although I can't be sure. So many men calling themselves warlords these days, who can really tell?"

Satoshi thought for a while. He knew that his head would likely fetch a good sum if brought to anyone in the Hiwatari kingdom, and that the Khael men would be looking for a young man with blue hair and eyes. It was a wonder no one had found him yet. Then again, perhaps it was not; most soldiers were so tired after a long day that they would not remember seeing anything unusual about any of the performers, and even if they did, the Emperor's cousin working alongside common street performers was the most ludicrous idea one could ever come up with. If anyone had told Satoshi six months beforehand that he would be performing on the streets, he too would have laughed in their faces, regardless of how rude it was to do so.

Thankfully, after that one rainy day, the weather returned to its usual temperate self. The troupe continued to earn what little they could convince the soldiers to give away, and if they were lucky a corporal would come by and toss them a little extra. Satoshi still remembers the feeling of relief and gratitude when a general stopped by and threw a whole fistful of gold coins into the hat, and having to leave hastily when the looks on the foot soldiers' faces went from contented to mutinous in a flash.

The day came when Dark and Krad both deemed the amount of money earned sufficient for a trip back to Ginka. When the total amount is announced, both men shoot Satoshi meaningful glances, and he knows that it is time to leave. He certainly cannot return to the city with them, and his journey is almost finished. The thought of deliberately getting lost in the forest makes his stomach churn a little, especially when he will be all on his own this time, but he nods and stands up, his legs trembling as though they're about to collapse on him.

"I'm leaving," he announces. "You, um, probably already know this, but I have to go back to the Hi-_former_ Hiwatari kingdom. Thank you for letting me travel with you, and for teaching me everything about your craft. Thank you for taking care of me, and I wish you all the best in your travels back to Ginka." He thinks he's missed something, and then remembers. "I am honoured to have been part of your group."

There is a stunned silence when he finishes, and Satoshi cannot think why. Then Duo stands up and walks over, throwing one arm over his shoulders and grinning. "It's been an honour working with you too, Satoshi. Are you sure you don't want to stay some more? I mean, we'll be short a drummer again, and you weren't half-bad at tightrope walking either. You'd have been as good as Trowa if you'd kept at it." Everyone laughs. Satoshi really, really wishes he could stay; images of a peaceful life wandering across the land with these street performers flashing through his mind and tempting him further. He shook his head and carefully moved away.

"There's something I have to do." Risa is the next to realize and throws herself at him, bawling. There is no doubt her tears are genuine; his shirt is now completely ruined. Riku simply rolls her eyes and walks over to comfort her sobbing twin, but she is just as affected even if she's not showing it.

"If you dare get hurt or killed, I'll find you, resurrect you and kill you myself," Riku threatens as she glares at him. "And I hope you remember that before you do something stupid." Satoshi nods, not knowing what to say in response. The other girl sniffs and carefully hugs him, gently tugging her sister away. "C'mon Risa, we have to go." Satoshi awkwardly hugged the both of them and then let go, swallowing as Risa stared up at him with big, teary brown eyes.

"You'll remember us?" She asks in that sweet voice she normally only uses for audiences. "Promise?" Satoshi nods, suddenly realizing that he's leaving them all behind. They might be going back to Ginka, but he's still the one who doesn't want to stay on. For the first time, Satoshi feels just a little disappointed that no one wants him to stay on. Clearly, he can't have been doing a very good job if everyone seems to accept his leaving as a fact. Dark surprises him; as soon as the twins let him go, the older man is striding over and pulling him into a tight hug.

"You'll do good," he mumbles roughly into Satoshi's hair before stepping back. "Take care of yourself, you hear? And if you see any other street performers, be nice to them!" Satoshi does not think he could bring himself to ignore acting troupes anymore; not after he's been a part of one for what could easily be the happiest few weeks of his life.

"You too," he tells Dark whilst fighting the hard knot in his throat. Krad formally shakes his hand, Quatre and Duo smile and the rest of the troupe nods as they move away. Satoshi does not even move until the entire group disappears amongst the trees before looking down at his hand, where Dark had subtly pressed something. It was his money bag, much havier than it had previously been. Staring fiercely at the spot where the troupe had been only a few minutes before, the young man swallows hard and bites back a sniff before strapping the pouch carefully to his belt, hoisting his pack onto his back and walking in the other direction, hoping not to run into any soldiers.

The next few days pass in a blur. Satoshi is pleasantly surprised to find food in the pack, along with a sling and a tinderbox. He wraps himself in his cloak at night, leaving the fire to merrily crackle, and continues to travel throughout the day. Without even a compass to guide him, he wryly thinks that at least getting lost enough to have the tower appear to him won't be a problem.

In spite of his notoriously bad sense of direction, the tower does not appear and Satoshi starts to wonder if maybe everyone was having some sort of sick joke at his expense. Perhaps the information Aidan gave him was faulty; after all, if it was some sort of fairytale, perhaps there were details that had been lost in the telling. Even the stories that his old nurse told him missed certain points out, and it would not be a surprise if perhaps there was some sort of incantation needed to invoke the witch or her tower. What if the entire tale was something made up to entertain young children, and Rapunzel had never existed to begin with? The thought chilled him a little and he could not but shudder into when the thought crossed his mind. Had he really come all this way, back into a war-torn country on the word of a magic mirror and a mysterious apothecary?

The seventh day brought him to a small village, with smoke still rising out of the freshly burned buildings. There was no sign of life anywhere; even the animals had fled. As he carefully picked through the remains, he came across a wooden carving of a dog. Its tail and hindquarters had been scorched off and twisted into almost unrecognizable lumps of black, but the front half remained intact, honey-brown wood still lightly scored to show the fur. Satoshi fought back the tears that pricked his eyes even as he wondered about the child who had played with this toy. Was he still alive? What about the person who had carved the figurine? Was he alive, dead or taken? Carefully placing the small object back on the ground, the young man continued on his way after offering up a prayer for the souls of those who had lived in the village.

The eighth day forces Satoshi to resort to his sling and the tinderbox for food; his supplies have run out, and hunting is now a necessity. A day of failure forces him to grub for roots and berries, and he finds a small pink flower that Quatre once used to make tea. In spite of the hot liquid, his stomach growls miserably and he huddles under a large tree, hoping that nothing unpleasant makes its way into the bedroll with him.

It is foggy and drizzly the next day, and Satoshi wakes to find a number of wriggling things marching over his bedroll. Suppressing the revulsion that comes when faced with such ugly, large insects, he carefully packs up and walks on, batting uselessly at the mist as it clings to him like some damp blanket. At around midday, he stops for a quick rest and closes his eyes, seeing the tower as clear as day behind his eyelids. Opening them once more, he is confronted by a slate grey wall looming over him. As his eyes slowly trail upwards, he realizes that this must be the tower that he's been searching for so long. It is truly an impressive sight; he is forcibly reminded of the Tower of Babel that his old tutors used to talk about, and as he walks around the structure he realizes that there are no doors. _Aidan was right,_ he thought almost giddily. _It is a magic tower._

The tower is too tall; he can only see up to three-quarters of the way, and then he will have to start moving back. He does not want to leave, fearing that the bilding will disappear as soon as he turns his back on it. Then a soft swishing noise catches his ear, and the fog parts as though someone had cut through it with a knife. A slight, female figure slowly emerges from the mist and Satoshi bites back a gasp of surprise. Although her features are young and fresh, her hair is completely grey. Nevertheless, she moves with the grace of someone of his age, and as she gets closer it becomes clear that she is not unpretty either. In other circumstances, he would have rather liked to make her acquaintance, but some primal instinct to run emerges within him and he bolts for the safety of the nearest tree, hoping fervently that she did not notice him standing there, gawking like a moonstruck calf.

The woman reaches the foot of the tower and looks up. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" She calls loudly. At first, nothing happens and Satoshi thinks that perhaps there is something more to getting inside the tower. Then, from above, a long red rope appears. Giving the thing a firm tug to make sure that it is secure, the woman begins to climb up. From behind the tree, the young prince takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. After all this time searching, he has finally found Rapunzel! A small curl of triumph rises within his chest and he smiles; it is an unfamiliar feeling, but one that he knows makes him happier. He settles down to wait for the witch, for that is who the woman must be, to come back down so that he himself can climb up and visit Rapunzel.

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Thank you for reading! Reviews are also much appreciated, and have a very happy Easter!


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